Chemoenzymatic synthesis of glycoengineered IgG antibodies and glycosite-specific antibody–drug conjugates

Glycoengineered therapeutic antibodies and glycosite-specific antibody-drug conjugates (gsADCs) have generated great interest among researchers because of their therapeutic potential. Endoglycosidase-catalyzed in vitro glycoengineering technology is a powerful tool for IgG Fc (fragment cystallizable) N-glycosylation remodeling. In this protocol, native heterogeneously glycosylated IgG N-glycans are first deglycosylated with a wild-type endoglycosidase. Next, a homogeneous N-glycan substrate, presynthesized as described here, is attached to the remaining N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) of IgG, using a mutant endoglycosidase (also called endoglycosynthase) that lacks hydrolytic activity but possesses transglycosylation activity for glycoengineering. Compared with in vivo glycoengineering technologies and the glycosyltransferase-enabled in vitro engineering method, the current approach is robust and features quantitative yield, homogeneous glycoforms of produced antibodies and ADCs, compatibility with diverse natural and non-natural glycan structures, convenient exploitation of native IgG as the starting material, and a well-defined conjugation site for antibody modifications. Potential applications of this method cover a broad scope of antibody-related research, including the development of novel glycoengineered therapeutic antibodies with enhanced efficacy, site-specific antibody-drug conjugation, and site-specific modification of antibodies for fluorescent labeling, PEGylation, protein cross-linking, immunoliposome formation, and so on, without loss of antigen-binding affinity. It takes 5-8 d to prepare the natural or modified N-glycan substrates, 3-4 d to engineer the IgG N-glycosylation, and 2-5 d to synthesize the small-molecule toxins and prepare the gsADCs.