PCOG-Precursors for inserting complex O-linked glycans into synthetic glycopetides

Proteins and peptides are molecules that play many important roles in the cell as well as in the entire organism. Those that are transported out of the cell, either to the cell-surface or to the surrondings are often modified by complex carbohydrate structures, glycans, that we call glycosylations and serve to e.g. stabilize the protein or enable interaction with other proteins. Glycosylation constitutes a bottle-neck in the final production of synthetic peptides and recombinant proteins for pharma and research and is achieved either by low-yield, multistep chemical synthesis or through production organisms or cell-cultures either performing non-native glycosylations, or adding correct glycans at a small scale and high cost. This project delivers a platform of engineered enzymes that utilise preformed O-glycans from bulk, cheap O-glycosylated proteins, such as animal intestinal mucins, for transfer onto pharmaceutical peptides giving a structurally correct composition of e.g. human O-glycosylation, to stabilise these peptides when passing through the stomach and intestine or injected into the blood.