Wageningen, The Netherlands
June 24, 2008
A research team including
scientists from Plant
Research International and
Wageningen University has succeeded in further unravelling
and manipulating the glycosylation of proteins in plants. This
is the result of the research* soon to be published in the
renowned scientific magazine
The Plant Cell. The scientists expect that this knowledge
will allow plants to be applied more often in the production of
therapeutic proteins, an important type of medicine.
The discovery fits in with technology developed by Plant
Research International for the production of biopharmaceuticals
in plants.
Proteins in plants, animals and people are equipped with various
sugar chains in a process known as glycosylation. The sugar
chains are of significance to the functioning of many proteins.
Moreover, their identity and uniformity is crucial to the
quality of therapeutic proteins.
The glycosylation of proteins in plants, people and animals
basically consists of three stages. Initially sugar chains are
constructed, which then attach to the protein in specific
locations. Finally, the sugar chains are further modified as
specific sugars are attached to the chain.
“We are the first institute in the world to identify a gene in
plants that is involved in the construction of these sugar
chains, the first stage in glycosylation,” says scientist
Maurice Henquet. “It seems that the chains become increasingly
uniform as the expression of this gene is reduced.” One type of
chain, a relatively simple one, is mainly developed. The sugar
chains which are attached to the proteins are therefore a better
starting point for making adjustments that are designed to
optimise the biological function as medicine.
“From now on we will be able to improve the manipulation of
glycosylation,” Henquet continues. “And plants will become even
more suitable for medicine production.”
Plant Research International has multiple publications and
patents in the field of improving glycosylation in plants for
the production of biopharmaceuticals.
The research was a joint venture with Professor Ludwig Lehle of
the Regensburg University and was partly financed by the
Experimental Plant Sciences research school, the Centre for
BioSystems Genomics (CBSG) and the Netherlands Proteomics Centre
(NPC).
* Title: “Identification of the gene encoding the
α1,3-mannosyltransferase (ALG3) in Arabidopsis and
characterization of downstream N-glycan processing”
The article is already available online.
Link:
http://www.plantcell.org/cgi/content/short/tpc.108.060731?keytype=ref&ijkey=Hh0z97yxOvwU1dE
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