Engineering of CHO cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferases

Background Sialyltransferases (SIATs) are a family of enzymes that transfer sialic acid (Sia) to glycan chains on glycoproteins, glycolipids, and oligosaccharides. They play key roles in determining cell–cell and cell-matrix interactions and are important in neuronal development, immune regulation,...

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Main Authors: Benoit Houeix, Michael T. Cairns
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2019-02-01
Series:PeerJ
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/5788.pdf
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author Benoit Houeix
Michael T. Cairns
author_facet Benoit Houeix
Michael T. Cairns
author_sort Benoit Houeix
collection DOAJ
description Background Sialyltransferases (SIATs) are a family of enzymes that transfer sialic acid (Sia) to glycan chains on glycoproteins, glycolipids, and oligosaccharides. They play key roles in determining cell–cell and cell-matrix interactions and are important in neuronal development, immune regulation, protein stability and clearance. Most fully characterized SIATs are of mammalian origin and these have been used for in vitro and in vivo modification of glycans. Additional versatility could be achieved by the use of animal SIATs from other species that live in much more variable environments. Our aim was to generate a panel of stable CHO cell lines expressing a range of vertebrate SIATs with different physicochemical and functional properties. Methods The soluble forms of various animal ST6Gal and ST3Gal enzymes were stably expressed from a Gateway-modified secretion vector in CHO cells. The secreted proteins were IMAC-purified from serum-free media. Functionality of the protein was initially assessed by lectin binding to the host CHO cells. Activity of purified proteins was determined by a number of approaches that included a phosphate-linked sialyltransferase assay, HILIC-HPLC identification of sialyllactose products and enzyme-linked lectin assay (ELLA). Results A range of sialyltransferase from mammals, birds and fish were stably expressed in CHO Flp-In cells. The stable cell lines expressing ST6Gal1 modify the glycans on the surface of the CHO cells as detected by fluorescently labelled lectin microscopy. The catalytic domains, as isolated by Ni Sepharose from culture media, have enzymatic activities comparable to commercial enzymes. Sialyllactoses were identified by HILIC-HPLC on incubation of the enzymes from lactose or whey permeate. The enzymes also increased SNA-I labelling of asialofetuin when incubated in a plate format. Conclusion Stable cell lines are available that may provide options for the in vivo sialylation of glycoproteins. Proteins are active and should display a variety of biological and physicochemical properties based on the animal source of the enzyme.
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spelling doaj.art-6e105fa1933f40ecb2ca8f29d768464d2023-12-03T10:35:23ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592019-02-017e578810.7717/peerj.5788Engineering of CHO cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferasesBenoit HoueixMichael T. CairnsBackground Sialyltransferases (SIATs) are a family of enzymes that transfer sialic acid (Sia) to glycan chains on glycoproteins, glycolipids, and oligosaccharides. They play key roles in determining cell–cell and cell-matrix interactions and are important in neuronal development, immune regulation, protein stability and clearance. Most fully characterized SIATs are of mammalian origin and these have been used for in vitro and in vivo modification of glycans. Additional versatility could be achieved by the use of animal SIATs from other species that live in much more variable environments. Our aim was to generate a panel of stable CHO cell lines expressing a range of vertebrate SIATs with different physicochemical and functional properties. Methods The soluble forms of various animal ST6Gal and ST3Gal enzymes were stably expressed from a Gateway-modified secretion vector in CHO cells. The secreted proteins were IMAC-purified from serum-free media. Functionality of the protein was initially assessed by lectin binding to the host CHO cells. Activity of purified proteins was determined by a number of approaches that included a phosphate-linked sialyltransferase assay, HILIC-HPLC identification of sialyllactose products and enzyme-linked lectin assay (ELLA). Results A range of sialyltransferase from mammals, birds and fish were stably expressed in CHO Flp-In cells. The stable cell lines expressing ST6Gal1 modify the glycans on the surface of the CHO cells as detected by fluorescently labelled lectin microscopy. The catalytic domains, as isolated by Ni Sepharose from culture media, have enzymatic activities comparable to commercial enzymes. Sialyllactoses were identified by HILIC-HPLC on incubation of the enzymes from lactose or whey permeate. The enzymes also increased SNA-I labelling of asialofetuin when incubated in a plate format. Conclusion Stable cell lines are available that may provide options for the in vivo sialylation of glycoproteins. Proteins are active and should display a variety of biological and physicochemical properties based on the animal source of the enzyme.https://peerj.com/articles/5788.pdfST6GalST3GalSialyllactosePoikilothermELLAHILIC-HPLC
spellingShingle Benoit Houeix
Michael T. Cairns
Engineering of CHO cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferases
PeerJ
ST6Gal
ST3Gal
Sialyllactose
Poikilotherm
ELLA
HILIC-HPLC
title Engineering of CHO cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferases
title_full Engineering of CHO cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferases
title_fullStr Engineering of CHO cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferases
title_full_unstemmed Engineering of CHO cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferases
title_short Engineering of CHO cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferases
title_sort engineering of cho cells for the production of vertebrate recombinant sialyltransferases
topic ST6Gal
ST3Gal
Sialyllactose
Poikilotherm
ELLA
HILIC-HPLC
url https://peerj.com/articles/5788.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT benoithoueix engineeringofchocellsfortheproductionofvertebraterecombinantsialyltransferases
AT michaeltcairns engineeringofchocellsfortheproductionofvertebraterecombinantsialyltransferases