German life science biotech firm, LenioBio GmbH, announced the generation of a novel plant glycan knockout cell line that will increase the versatility and flexibility of the company’s cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) system, ALiCE.
LenioBio’s proprietary ALiCE® platform is derived from a tobacco BY-2 plant cell lysate. Plant-based expression systems are ideal biofactories for the production of many different protein classes for a multitude of applications. However, differences in the way plant cells and the cells of other organisms perform the important post-translational protein glycosylation step can limit the uses of some plant CFPS-produced proteins.
In a step towards offering greater flexibility to their customers, LenioBio has generated a BY-2 knockout cell line lacking those enzymes responsible for plant-specific fucose and xylose glycosylation. Namely, deletion of fucosyltransferase and xylosyltranferase genes was achieved through precision genome editing. The resulting lysate devoid of plant glycans, opens the door to a new line of ALiCE products offering the potential for customizable protein glycosylation.
This is the first of many such optimizations planned for the ALiCE system, and complements the ongoing work forming part of the recently announced Eurostars grant.
“We are delighted to add this cell line to our repertoire and will soon provide our customers more choice and control over cell-free protein production towards different applications” said Dr. Ricarda Finnern, CSO of LenioBio GmbH.
The new cell line is one outcome of the two year EU Horizon 2020 funded project, PEPPER (881025), which was successfully completed in February 2022.
About LenioBio
LenioBio is a protein expression platform company committed to the advancement of transformative technology for the discovery, development, and large-scale production of proteins, unconstrained by the limitations of the cell.
LenioBio was established as a legal entity in Germany in September 2016, with offices in Dusseldorf and R&D and production labs in Aachen.