Enhancing protein production in mammalian cells is of interest in the biomedical field for a variety of reasons, including structural studies and antibody production. Using small non-protein coding RNA such as microRNA has recently been a promising method of increasing protein expression. A high throughput human microRNA screen in HEK 293 cells previously identified miRNA 22-3p as a promising candidate for increasing recombinant protein expression. This microRNA enhanced the expression of luciferase, two hard-to-express membrane proteins and a secreted hFc-fusion protein. In order to explore the mechanisms of this increase in protein production and to understand the intracellular events, we conducted a gene expression analysis of cells transfected with a mir-22-3p mimic against a negative control. Following the microarray analysis, several genes that were differentially regulated were identified. These were cross-referenced with predicted mir-22-3p targets along with the results of a high throughput siRNA screen. We will present our selected gene, HIPK1, and its possible involvement in the process of enhanced cells productivity
