Exploiting the Disialyl Galactose Activity of α2,6-Sialyltransferase from Photobacterium damselae To Generate a Highly Sialylated Recombinant α-1-Antitrypsin

Biochemistry. 2020 Sep 1;59(34):3123-3128. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.9b00563. Epub 2019 Oct 11.

Abstract

Sialic acids are sugars present in many animal glycoproteins and are of particular interest in biopharmaceuticals, where a lack of sialylation can reduce bioactivity. Here, we describe how α-2,6-sialyltransferase from Photobacterium damselae can be used to markedly increase the level of sialylation of CHO-produced α-1-antitrypsin. Detailed analysis of the sialylation products showed that in addition to the expected α-2,6-sialylation of galactose, a second disialyl galactose motif Neu5Ac-α2,3(Neu5Ac-α2,6)Gal was produced, which, to our knowledge, had never been detected on a mammalian glycoprotein. We exploited this disialyl galactose activity of the P. damselae in a multienzyme reaction to produce a highly sialylated α-1-antitrypsin. The influence of this unique disialylation on the in vitro activity of α-1-antitrypsin was studied, and a toolkit of mass spectrometry methods for identifying this new disialyl galactose motif in complex mixtures was developed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Galactose / metabolism*
  • N-Acetylneuraminic Acid / metabolism*
  • Photobacterium / enzymology*
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism*
  • Sialyltransferases / metabolism*
  • alpha 1-Antitrypsin / metabolism*

Substances

  • Recombinant Proteins
  • alpha 1-Antitrypsin
  • Sialyltransferases
  • N-Acetylneuraminic Acid
  • Galactose

Supplementary concepts

  • Photobacterium damselae