Taxane Production from Taxus Species Cell Lines

 Technology Description:

The invention is a method for selecting cell lines capable of producing large quantities of taxanes which can be used in the treatment of breast, ovarian and other types of cancers. Selecting the highest taxane-producing cell lines should result in more economical commercial production. Elicitors, such as methyl jasmonate, are known to stimulate taxane production in cells. The invention takes advantage of elicitor effects in cell suspension cultures to identify cells which produce taxanes easily in the culture cycle and in large quantities. Higher- producing cell lines identified by the invention can be grown using conventional fermentation processes. The invention involves the inoculation of taxus-derived cells to form suspension cultures, adding an effective amount of elicitor to stimulate production, harvesting samples of culture medium at various intervals and determining taxane levels in the samples.

Reference:

Patent Application Number 09/126,229, filed July 30, 1998.

Inventor:

Donna M. Gibson

Plant Protection Research

Ithaca, New York 14853

(607) 255-2359 / Fax: (607) 255-1132