No abstract

Plant cell cultures have emerged as a promising platform for the production of biopharmaceutics due to their cost-effectiveness, safety, ability to control the cultivation, and secrete products into culture medium. However, the use of this platform is hindered by the generation of plant-specific N-glycans, the inability to produce essential N-glycans for cellular delivery of biopharmaceutics, and low productivity. In this study, an alternative acid-alpha glucosidase (GAA) for enzyme replacement therapy of Pompe disease was produced in a glycoengineered Arabidopsis alg3 cell culture. The N-glycan composition of the GAA consisted of a predominantly paucimannosidic structure, Man3GlcNAc2 (M3), without the plant-specific N-glycans. Supplementing the culture medium with NaCl to a final concentration of 50 mM successfully increased GAA production by 3.8-fold. GAA from an NaCl-supplemented culture showed a similar N-glycan profile, indicating that the NaCl supplementation did not affect N-glycosylation. The results of this study highlight the feasibility of using a glycoengineered plant cell culture to produce recombinant proteins for which M3 or mannose receptor-mediated delivery is desired.

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Abstract. Prasetyo AA, Sariyatun R, Prasetyo AD, Yudistiro I, Sidhajati RA. 2014. G1957C variation in Core Promoter and Precore/Core regions of Hepatitis B virus isolated from men who have sex with men (MSM) in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. Nusantara Bioscience 6: 107-110. Little is known about HBV isolates in Indonesian men who have sex with men (MSM) community. Thus, this study was aimed to analyze the genetic profile of HBV isolated from MSM in Indonesia, particularly in Surakarta, Central Java. A total of 205 blood samples were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the partial Core Promoter (CP) and Precore/Core (preC/C) regions. Three samples were found positive by PCR. The amplicons were sequenced and subjected to molecular analysis. The genetic profile of all HBV isolated in Indonesia (n= 122) was also included for molecular analysis. All HBV isolated from the MSM were genotype B3. G1957C (C195S) was found in all HBV isolated from the MSM community and subject with sex with man history. Several disease-related mutations were observed among HBV sequences from Indonesia, including T1753C, A1762T, G1764A, A1846T, and G1896A which existed in 7.2% (9/125), 17.6% (22/125), 19.2% (24/125), 16.8% (21/125), and 24.8% (31/125) sequences, respectively; however, none were present in HBV isolated from the MSM. In conclusion, various mutations, including those related to disease, were found in Indonesian HBV isolates. G1957C variation was unique in the HBV isolated from the MSM.