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Abstract
Few approaches exist for the stable and controllable synthesis of customized mucin glycoproteins for glycocalyx editing in eukaryotic cells. Taking advantage of custom gene synthesis and a biology-by-parts approach to cDNA construction, we build a library of swappable DNA bricks for mucin leader tags, membrane anchors, cytoplasmic motifs, and optical reporters, as well as codon-optimized native mucin repeats and newly designed domains for synthetic mucins. We construct a library of over 50 mucins, each with unique chemical, structural, and optical properties and describe how additional permutations could readily be constructed. We apply the library to explore sequence-specific effects on glycosylation for engineering of mucins. We find that the extension of the immature α-GalNAc Tn-antigen to Core 1 and Core 2 glycan structures depends on the underlying peptide backbone sequence. Glycosylation could also be influenced through recycling motifs on the mucin cytoplasmic tail. We expect that the mucin parts inventory presented here can be broadly applied for glycocalyx research and mucin-based biotechnologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Pan
- Field of Biophysics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | | | - Nitin T. Supekar
- Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | - Parastoo Azadi
- Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | - Matthew J. Paszek
- Field of Biophysics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
- Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
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Shurer CR, Wang Y, Feeney E, Head SE, Zhang VX, Su J, Cheng Z, Stark MA, Bonassar LJ, Reesink HL, Paszek MJ. Stable recombinant production of codon-scrambled lubricin and mucin in human cells. Biotechnol Bioeng 2019; 116:1292-1303. [PMID: 30684357 PMCID: PMC6764099 DOI: 10.1002/bit.26940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2018] [Revised: 01/03/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Widespread therapeutic and commercial interest in recombinant mucin technology has emerged due to the unique ability of mucin glycoproteins to hydrate, protect, and lubricate biological surfaces. However, recombinant production of the large, highly repetitive domains that are characteristic of mucins remains a challenge in biomanufacturing likely due, at least in part, to the inherent instability of DNA repeats in the cellular genome. To overcome this challenge, we exploit codon redundancy to encode desired mucin polypeptides with minimal nucleotide repetition. The codon-scrambling strategy was applied to generate synonymous genes, or "synDNAs," for two mucins of commercial interest: lubricin and mucin 1. Stable, long-term recombinant production in suspension-adapted human 293-F cells was demonstrated for the synonymous lubricin complementary DNA (cDNA), which we refer to as SynLubricin. Under optimal conditions, a 293-F subpopulation produced recombinant SynLubricin at more than 200 mg/L of media and was stable throughout 2 months of continuous culture. Functionality tests confirmed that the recombinant lubricin could effectively inhibit cell adhesion and lubricate cartilage explants. Together, our work provides a viable workflow for cDNA design and stable mucin production in mammalian host production systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn R. Shurer
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Yuyan Wang
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Elizabeth Feeney
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Shelby E. Head
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Victoria X. Zhang
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Jin Su
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Zhu Cheng
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Morgan A. Stark
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | | | - Heidi L. Reesink
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Matthew J. Paszek
- Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
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