Open AccessDown‐regulated expression of plant‐specific glycoepitopes in alfalfa
Author(s) -
Sourrouille Christophe,
MarquetBlouin Estelle,
D’Aoust MarcAndré,
KieferMeyer MarieChristine,
Seveno Martial,
PagnySalehabadi Sophie,
Bardor Muriel,
Durambur Gaelle,
Lerouge Patrice,
Vezina Louis,
Gomord Véronique
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
plant biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.525
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1467-7652
pISSN - 1467-7644
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2008.00353.x
Subject(s) - biology , galactosyltransferase , glycosylation , fucosyltransferase , glycosyltransferase , golgi apparatus , genetically modified crops , transgene , recombinant dna , nicotiana benthamiana , glycan , biochemistry , nicotiana tabacum , rna interference , agroinfiltration , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , glycoprotein , rna , enzyme , cell
Summary Compared with other plant expression systems used for pharmaceutical protein production, alfalfa offers the advantage of very homogeneous N ‐glycosylation. Therefore, this plant was selected for further attempts at glycoengineering. Two main approaches were developed in order to humanize N ‐glycosylation in alfalfa. The first was a knock‐down of two plant‐specific N ‐glycan maturation enzymes, β1,2‐xylosyltransferase and α1,3‐fucosyltransferases, using sense, antisense and RNA interference strategies. In a second approach, with the ultimate goal of rebuilding the whole human sialylation pathway, human β1,4‐galactosyltransferase was expressed in alfalfa in a native form or in fusion with a targeting domain from N ‐acetylglucosaminyltransferase I, a glycosyltransferase located in the early Golgi apparatus in Nicotiana tabacum . Both knock‐down and knock‐in strategies strongly, but not completely, inhibited the biosynthesis of α1,3‐fucose‐ and β1,2‐xylose‐containing glycoepitopes in transgenic alfalfa. However, recombinant human β1,4‐galactosyltransferase activity in transgenic alfalfa completely prevented the accumulation of the Lewis a glycoepitope on complex N ‐glycans.