Knockout of Glycosyltransferases in Nicotiana benthamiana by Genome Editing to Improve Glycosylation of Plant-Produced Proteins

• Published in: Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) Vol. 2480; p. 241
• Main Authors: Jansing, Julia, Bortesi, Luisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 2022
• Subjects: Animals; CRISPR-Cas Systems - genetics; Gene Editing - methods; Glycosylation; Glycosyltransferases - genetics; Glycosyltransferases - metabolism; Humans; Mammals - genetics; Nicotiana - genetics; Nicotiana - metabolism; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics; Plants, Genetically Modified - metabolism; Polysaccharides - chemistry; Recombinant Proteins - genetics; Recombinant Proteins - metabolism; Xylose - metabolism; Nicotiana benthamiana; Genome editing; Allotetraploid genome; CRISPR/Cas9; Glycosyltransferase; Targeted gene knockout
• ISSN: 1940-6029
• DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2241-4_14

Plants are excellent production hosts for the in vivo synthesis of complex glycosylated proteins such as antibodies. The plant N-glycosylation machinery is largely similar to that found in humans and other mammalian organisms, which is an advantage in comparison to microbial production systems in particular. However, there are some differences in the identity and chemical linkage of the sugars that plants and mammals use to build their N-glycans. These differences can affect important properties of glycosylated proteins produced recombinantly in plants. Here we describe the complete procedure of multiplex targeted gene knockout with CRISPR/Cas9 in Nicotiana benthamiana in order to eliminate the undesirable sugars α-1,3-fucose and β-1,2-xylose from the plant N-glycans. The workflow includes target gene identification, guide RNA design and testing, plant transformation, and the analysis of the regenerated transgenic plants by Sanger sequencing, immunoblot, and mass-spectrometric analysis of recombinant and endogenous proteins.