The demonstration more than a decade ago that glycoproteins could be produced in Escherichia coli cells equipped with the N-linked protein glycosylation machinery from Campylobacter jejuni opened the door to using simple bacteria for the expression and engineering of complex glycoproteins. Since that time, metabolic engineering has played an increasingly important role in developing and optimizing microbial cell glyco-factories for the production of diverse glycoproteins and other glycoconjugates. It is becoming clear that future progress in creating efficient glycoprotein expression platforms in bacteria will depend on the adoption of advanced strain engineering strategies such as rational design and assembly of orthogonal glycosylation pathways, genome-wide identification of metabolic engineering targets, and evolutionary engineering of pathway performance. Here, we highlight recent advances in the deployment of metabolic engineering tools and strategies to develop microbial cell glyco-factories for the production of high-value glycoprotein targets with applications in research and medicine.
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Cover Image
Cover Image
The lack of availability of glycans and glycoconjugates has severely limited the development of the field of glycobiology. This issue of Emerging Topics in Life Sciences features nine reviews by respected scientists in the field and deals with the application of metabolic engineering to the production of these complex carbohydrate or saccharide structures. The cover image illustrates that capsular polysaccharides and other bioengineered compounds can be generated by engineered cells, such as Escherichia coli, through the application of various metabolic engineering tools and strategies. The image was kindly provided by Robert J. Linhardt (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and designed by Asher Williams (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).
Metabolic engineering of glycoprotein biosynthesis in bacteria
Mattheos A.G. Koffas, Robert J. Linhardt, Aravind Natarajan, Thapakorn Jaroentomeechai, Mingji Li, Cameron J. Glasscock, Matthew P. DeLisa; Metabolic engineering of glycoprotein biosynthesis in bacteria. Emerg Top Life Sci 26 October 2018; 2 (3): 419–432. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20180004
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