Production of Monoclonal Antibodies in Glycoengineered Pichia pastoris

Abstract

Although improvements in antibody expression by mammalian cells are nearing maturation, efforts to improve antibody efficacy through glycoengineering are rapidly expanding. For example, the production of full length monoclonal antibodies with uniform human N-linked glycans by glycoengineered yeast has been used to optimize antibody effector function. The glycoengineered yeast expression platform not only enables elucidation of structure function relationships but also offers a robust and economically viable alternative to mammalian cell expression. This chapter provides an overview of glycobiology, engineering of P. pastoris to secrete recombinant proteins with uniform human N-linked glycans as well as bioprocess considerations in the production of full length monoclonal antibodies by a yeast based expression system.