TY - JOUR
T1 - In Planta protein sialylation through overexpression of the respective mammalian pathway
AU - Castilho, Alexandra
AU - Strasser, Richard
AU - Stadlmann, Johannes
AU - Grass, Josephine
AU - Jez, Jakub
AU - Gattinger, Pia
AU - Kunert, Renate
AU - Quendler, Heribert
AU - Pabst, Martin
AU - Leonard, Renaud
AU - Altmann, Friedrich
AU - Steinkellner, Herta
PY - 2010/5/21
Y1 - 2010/5/21
N2 - Many therapeutic proteins are glycosylated and require terminal sialylation to attain full biological activity. Current manufacturing methods based on mammalian cell culture allow only limited control of this important posttranslational modification, which may lead to the generation of products with low efficacy. Here we report in vivo protein sialylation in plants, which have been shown to be well suited for the efficient generation of complex mammalian glycoproteins. This was achieved by the introduction of an entire mammalian biosynthetic pathway in Nicotiana benthamiana, comprising the coordinated expression of the genes for (i) biosynthesis, (ii) activation, (iii) transport, and (iv) transfer of Neu5Ac to terminal galactose.We show the transient overexpression and functional integrity of six mammalian proteins that act at various stages of the biosynthetic pathway and demonstrate their correct subcellular localization. Co-expression of these genes with a therapeutic glycoprotein, a human monoclonal antibody, resulted in quantitative sialylation of the Fc domain. Sialylation was at great uniformity when glycosylation mutants that lack plant-specific N-glycan residues were used as expression hosts. Finally, we demonstrate efficient neutralization activity of the sialylated monoclonal antibody, indicating full functional integrity of the reporter protein. We report for the first time the incorporation of the entire biosynthetic pathway for protein sialylation in a multicellular organism naturally lacking sialylated glycoconjugates. Besides the biotechnological impact of the achievement, this work may serve as a general model for the manipulation of complex traits into plants.
AB - Many therapeutic proteins are glycosylated and require terminal sialylation to attain full biological activity. Current manufacturing methods based on mammalian cell culture allow only limited control of this important posttranslational modification, which may lead to the generation of products with low efficacy. Here we report in vivo protein sialylation in plants, which have been shown to be well suited for the efficient generation of complex mammalian glycoproteins. This was achieved by the introduction of an entire mammalian biosynthetic pathway in Nicotiana benthamiana, comprising the coordinated expression of the genes for (i) biosynthesis, (ii) activation, (iii) transport, and (iv) transfer of Neu5Ac to terminal galactose.We show the transient overexpression and functional integrity of six mammalian proteins that act at various stages of the biosynthetic pathway and demonstrate their correct subcellular localization. Co-expression of these genes with a therapeutic glycoprotein, a human monoclonal antibody, resulted in quantitative sialylation of the Fc domain. Sialylation was at great uniformity when glycosylation mutants that lack plant-specific N-glycan residues were used as expression hosts. Finally, we demonstrate efficient neutralization activity of the sialylated monoclonal antibody, indicating full functional integrity of the reporter protein. We report for the first time the incorporation of the entire biosynthetic pathway for protein sialylation in a multicellular organism naturally lacking sialylated glycoconjugates. Besides the biotechnological impact of the achievement, this work may serve as a general model for the manipulation of complex traits into plants.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952408200&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1074/jbc.M109.088401
DO - 10.1074/jbc.M109.088401
M3 - Article
C2 - 20305285
AN - SCOPUS:77952408200
SN - 0021-9258
VL - 285
SP - 15923
EP - 15930
JO - Journal of Biological Chemistry
JF - Journal of Biological Chemistry
IS - 21
ER -