Recent Advances in Metabolic Engineering Strategies for the Production of Human Milk Oligosaccharides in Microbial Hosts

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are the third most abundant solid component in human breast milk, playing vital roles in promoting infant growth, supporting immune system development, and preventing infections. Due to these benefits, HMOs are increasingly being incorporated into infant formula, making their low-cost, large-scale production a pressing need. Recent advances in biosynthesis have focused on developing efficient production methods, particularly using genetically engineered Escherichia coli and other microbial hosts. This review begins by outlining the biological significance and structural complexity of HMOs, followed by an analysis of the limitations associated with traditional chemical and enzymatic synthesis approaches. The review then highlights the advantages of metabolic engineering in industrial microbes, such as reduced costs by eliminating the need for enzyme purification and leveraging native cellular pathways for sugar nucleotide biosynthesis. It further explores the construction of synthetic pathways for various HMOs in microbial systems, detailing metabolic engineering strategies including modular pathway design, cofactor optimization, glycosyltransferase and transporter engineering, and the spatial organization of enzymes through self-assembly techniques. Finally, the review addresses current challenges and future directions in the field. These include promoter engineering, further optimization of glycosyltransferases and transporters, balancing product synthesis with cell growth, and the integration of omics technologies and metabolic flux analysis. Overall, this review provides a comprehensive overview of HMO biosynthesis, emphasizing the integration of traditional metabolic engineering with synthetic and systems biology. This multilevel dynamic regulation approach is key to enabling the efficient and sustainable microbial production of HMOs.