Recent Advances in Glycosylation Modifications in the Context of Therapeutic Glycoproteins

Glycosylation is one of the most complex post-translation modifications, commonly found in many cell surface and secreted eukaryotic proteins. 1-2% of the human transcriptome encodes proteins that link to glycosylation. Many protein-based biotherapeutics approved or in clinical trials are glycoproteins. The oligosaccharides covalently attached to therapeutic glycoproteins pose biological benefits as well as manufacturing challenges. The present chapter reviews the structure and function of glycosylation, glycoform patterns observed for the biotherapeutic proteins produced by various host systems, and analytic methods for the characterization of glycoforms. Recent advances in utilizing glycosylation as a strategy to improve biotherapeutics properties are also discussed.