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Research progress and development trends in the biosynthesis of neutral core human milk oligosaccharides
LIU Dan, WANG Jianyu, JIANG Zhengqiang
Synthetic Biology Journal    2025, 6 (5): 1126-1144.   DOI: 10.12211/2096-8280.2025-083
Abstract   (541 HTML22 PDF(pc) (5130KB)(529)  

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are essentially functional and nutritional components found in human milk. They can be primarily classified into fucosylated, neutral core, and sialylated HMOs. Lacto-N-triose Ⅱ (LNT Ⅱ), lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT), and lacto-N-tetraose (LNT) are common neutral core human milk oligosaccharides (ncHMOs), which can be extended to form longer-chain HMOs and play important roles in intestinal health. In recent years, the biosynthesis of ncHMOs has developed rapidly, and industrial-scale production is from theoretical possibility to practical reality. The synthesis approaches for ncHMOs include chemical synthesis, enzymatic synthesis, and microbial cell synthesis. As the rapid development in biotechnology, enzymatic and microbial cell synthesis have emerged as prominent methods in ncHMOs biosynthesis. Enzymatic synthesis is highly efficient, regioselective, and stereoselective. Currently, glycosyltransferases and glycoside hydrolases represent the two major types of enzymes used for biosynthesizing ncHMOs. Glycosidase-based enzymatic synthesis has demonstrated high conversion rates for LNT Ⅱ and LNnT production. However, the enzymatic synthesis of LNT is less efficient and requires further improvement. Notably, the production of LNnT and LNT typically relies on LNT Ⅱ as a key precursor, requiring a multi-step synthetic strategy. Microbial cell synthesis employs metabolic engineering to construct continuously synthetic pathways in microbial cells such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Knocking out genes in competitive pathway, optimizing genes expression, regenerating cofactors have significantly enhanced the yields of ncHMOs. The biosynthesis of ncHMOs faces several critical challenges, including the low activity and poor substrate specificity of key glycosyltransferases, such as β-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase and β-1,3-galactosyltransferase. Additionally, the transporters of LNT Ⅱ and LNnT are not clear in microbial cell. Furthermore, the yields of LNT Ⅱ should be substantially improved for industrial-scale production. Thus, it is important to overcome the interconnected limitations in enzyme engineering (particularly glycosyltransferase specificity and activity), microbial cell modification (focusing on metabolic compatibility and pathway design), and bioprocess optimization (through rational pathway redesign) via an integrated synthetic biology and fermentation engineering approach in the future. These strategies are essential for achieving efficient, cost-effective biosynthesis of ncHMO at industrial scale.


菌株改造情况底物发酵条件发酵罐产量/(g/L)参考文献
大肠杆菌(E. coli)BL21(DE3)ΔwecBΔnagBΔlacZ pCD-pfgalT-galE(源自Pseudogulbenkiania ferrooxidans乳糖、甘油pH 6.8、28 ℃、0.2 mmol/L IPTG、甘油优化培养基25.49(3 L)[100]
大肠杆菌(E. coli)BL21(DE3)ΔlacZΔugd pCD-lgtA-wbgO pET-ETK(源自E. coli O55:H7)乳糖、甘油pH 6.8、25 ℃、0.4 mmol/L IPTG、甘油优化培养基31.56(3 L)[101]
大肠杆菌(E. coli) BL21(DE3)ΔwecBΔnagBΔlacZΔrecA::P tac -galE、pET-lgtA、pAC-PfgalT、pCD-udk-pyrF乳糖、甘油pH 6.8、25 ℃、0.2 mmol/L IPTG、甘油优化培养基57.5(5 L)[90]
大肠杆菌(E. coli)BL21(DE3)菌株A:ΔlacZΔwecBΔnagBΔugd ΔrecA::P tac -galE 四拷贝:ΔIS186-1::Ptac-lgtA pET-wbgO 菌株B:pET-BbhI乳糖、甘油pH 6.8、25 ℃、0.2 mmol/L IPTG、甘油优化培养基30.13(5 L)[102]
大肠杆菌(E. coli)BL21 star (DE3)ΔlacZΔwcaJ ΔintQ::lgtA-galE ΔcaiB::wbdO乳糖、甘油pH 6.8、29.5 ℃、0.02 mmol/L IPTG、甘油优化培养基109.8(5 L)[103]
大肠杆菌(E. coli)MG1655

ΔlacZΔwcaJΔugd ΔP lacY ::P J23119 P galE ::P tac

ΔarsB::lgtA ΔnagB::lgtA ΔpoxB::lgtA ΔldhA::wbgO ΔwecB::wbgO ΔmanY::wbgO ΔmanZ::wbgO ΔxylB::wbgO ΔhlyE::mdfA

乳糖、甘油pH 6.8、25 ℃、—、甘油优化培养基42.38(5 L)[91]
Table 7 Microbial cell factory for LNT synthesis
Extracts from the Article
迄今,微生物细胞法合成LNT均在大肠杆菌中开展,尚未见利用其他微生物底盘合成LNT的报道。只有沙门氏菌(Salmonella enterica)[84]嗜酸氧化亚铁硫杆菌(Pseudogulbenkiania ferrooxidans)[100]大肠杆菌O55:H7[101]来源的β-1,3-GalT用于大肠杆菌合成LNT(表7)。
ΔlacZΔwcaJΔugd ΔP lacY ::P J23119 P galE ::P tac ...
Engineering Escherichia coli for the high-titer biosynthesis of lacto-N-tetraose
2
2022
... 迄今,微生物细胞法合成LNT均在大肠杆菌中开展,尚未见利用其他微生物底盘合成LNT的报道.只有沙门氏菌(Salmonella enterica)[84嗜酸氧化亚铁硫杆菌(Pseudogulbenkiania ferrooxidans)[100大肠杆菌O55:H7[101]来源的β-1,3-GalT用于大肠杆菌合成LNT(表7). ...

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