Engineering the Secretory Pathway in Mammalian Cells

There has been rapid growth in the commercial market for biopharmaceuticals, most of which are produced in mammalian cells as secreted recombinant products. Thus, cellular engineering strategies, involving modulation of the secretory capacity of the producer cells, are highly desirable. Genetic and biochemical analyses of intracellular trafficking of proteins have generated a detailed portfolio of molecular mechanisms involved in cargo transport between organelles. Together with a large array of technical advances, this progress has enabled the rational identification of core machinery, key factors, complex controls and various regulatory mechanisms that define the directionality, specificity and efficiency of vesicular transport along the secretory pathway. The unprecedented availability of information has led to new goals for the development of novel strategies to improve the productivity of the secretory pathway in mammalian cells.