Production of a complement inhibitor possessing sialyl Lewis X moieties by in vitro glycosylation technology

Recombinant soluble human complement receptor type 1 (sCR1) is a highly glycosylated glycoprotein intended for use as a drug to treat ischemia-reperfusion injury and other complement-mediated diseases and injuries. sCR1-sLex produced in the FT-VI-expressing mutant CHO cell line LEC11 exists as a heterogeneous mixture of glycoforms, a fraction of which include structures with one or more antennae terminated by the sialyl Lewis X (sLex) [Neu5Acα2-3Galβ1-4(Fucα1-3)GlcNAc]) epitope. Such multivalent presentation of sLex was shown previously to effectively target sCR1 to activated endothelial cells expressing E-selectin. Here, we describe the use of the soluble, recombinant α2-3 sialyltransferase ST3Gal-III and the α1-3 fucosyltransferase FT-VI in vitro to introduce sLex moieties onto the N-glycan chains of sCR1 overexpressed in standard CHO cell lines. The product (sCR1-S/F) of these in vitro enzymatic glycan remodeling reactions performed at the 10-g scale has approximately 14 N-glycan chains per sCR1 molecule, comprised of biantennary (90%), triantennary (8.5%), and tetraantennary (1.5%) structures, nearly all of whose antennae terminate with sLex moieties. sCR1-S/F retained complement inhibitory activity and, in comparison with sCR1-sLex produced in the LEC11 cell line, contained twice the number of sLex moieties per mole glycoprotein, exhibited a twofold increase in area under the intravenous clearance curve in a rat pharmacokinetic model, and exhibited a 10-fold increase in affinity for E-selectin in an in vitro binding assay. These results demonstrate that in vitro glycosylation of the sCR1 drug product reduces heterogeneity of the glycan profile, improves pharmacokinetics, and enhances carbohydrate-mediated binding to E-selectin.