Synthesis of enzymatically active human α‐ l ‐iduronidase in Arabidopsis cgl (complex glycan‐deficient) seeds

Summary As an initial step to develop plants as systems to produce enzymes for the treatment of lysosomal storage disorders, Arabidopsis thaliana wild‐type (Col‐0) plants were transformed with a construct to express human α‐ l ‐iduronidase (IDUA; EC 3.2.1.76) in seeds using the promoter and other regulatory sequences of the Phaseolus vulgaris arcelin 5‐I gene. IDUA protein was easily detected on Western blots of extracts from the T 2 seeds, and extracts contained IDUA activity as high as 2.9 nmol 4‐methylumbelliferone (4 MU)/min/mg total soluble protein (TSP), corresponding to approximately 0.06 µg IDUA/mg TSP. The purified protein reacted with an antibody specific for xylose‐containing plant complex glycans, indicating its transit through the Golgi complex. In an attempt to avoid maturation of the N‐linked glycans of IDUA, the same IDUA transgene was introduced into the Arabidopsis cgl background, which is deficient in the activity of N‐acetylglucosaminyl transferase I (EC 2.4.1.101), the first enzyme in the pathway of complex glycan biosynthesis. IDUA activity and protein levels were significantly higher in transgenic cgl vs. wild‐type seeds (e.g. maximum levels were 820 nmol 4 MU/min/mg TSP, or 18 µg IDUA/mg TSP). Affinity‐purified IDUA derived from cgl mutant seeds showed a markedly reduced reaction with the antibody specific for plant complex glycans, despite transit of the protein to the apoplast. Furthermore, gel mobility changes indicated that a greater proportion of its N‐linked glycans were susceptible to digestion by Streptomyces endoglycosidase H, as compared to IDUA derived from seeds of wild‐type Arabidopsis plants. The combined results indicate that IDUA produced in cgl mutant seeds contains glycans primarily in the high‐mannose form. This work clearly supports the viability of using plants for the production of human therapeutics with high‐mannose glycans.