Prize for ubiquitous chromatin-opening element

Presentation on UCOE protein expression technology was awarded the best oral presentation at the 18th Esact-UK scientific meeting, which took place in Cambridge in January 2008

The joint first prize went to Alexandra Croxford, a postgraduate student from professor Alan Dickson's group in the faculty of life sciences at the University of Manchester.

Her presentation described the results of her work in optimising the UCOE technology in collaboration with Cobra Biomanufacturing.

The title of the presentation was 'Influence of ubiquitous chromatin-opening elements towards expression of therapeutic proteins in recombinant CHO cell lines'.

The UCOE technology consists of a DNA sequence called a ubiquitous chromatin-opening element.

By keeping neighbouring DNA free of chromatin, this element can ensure that genes of interest cloned adjacent to the UCOE are transcribed at high levels when transfected into cells.

Consequently, cell lines that produce high levels of protein are readily obtained in a shorter timeframe than conventional expression technologies.

Simon Saxby, Cobra Biomanufacturing's chief operating officer, said: "UCOE technology enables Cobra to manufacture proteins for our clients in mammalian cells faster and at higher yields than using standard expression methods.

"The collaboration with the University of Manchester has advanced our understanding of these universal chromatin opening elements and will enable the technology to be further optimised for our customers' benefit.".

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