ABSTRACT
Although plants present a promising system for the production of human therapeutic proteins, the majority of such proteins are in fact glycoproteins. In particular, N-glycosylation is often essential for the stability, folding, and biological activity of proteins. While transgenic plants possess the intrinsic ability to produce glycoproteins, N-glycoproteins synthesized in plants differ from those derived from their mammalian counterparts. In this chapter, the glycosylation pathways of plants will be described, and the main differences between glycosylation patterns in plant and animal systems will be covered. The potential of animal-based therapeutic proteins produced in plants to behave as allergens, and the modifications between glycoproteins derived from transgenic plants to render them more “humanized,” will be discussed. The generation of immunoglobulins, also known as plantibodies, and therapeutic glycoproteins, in plants will also be examined.
