CHO cell

Chinese hamster ovary cell

Complex Carbohydrate

Polysaccharide polymer

Cytotoxin

Any substance that poisons living cells

Endoplasmic reticulum

A system of double-membraned, tubular organelles that aid in protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells

Enzymatic synthesis

Any chemical reaction or series of reactions catalysed by an enzyme

Enzyme

Proteins that act as catalysts, speeding the rate at which biochemical reactions proceed but not altering the direction or nature of the reactions

Expression system

An expression vector, its cloned DNA, and the host for the vector

Fermenters

A device used to grow large amounts of bacteria in liquid culture. The device generally can hold more than 10 liters of liquid growth medium, has a heater to provide constant temperature, and has an agitator for aeration

Glycan

A generic term for any sugar or assembly of sugars, in free form or attached to another molecule, used interchangeably with the term saccharide or carbohydrate

GlycoAdvance™

A protein glycosylation technology solution, utilizing a proprietary library of recombinant glycosyltransferase enzymes, sugar nucleotides and sugars to re-build the incomplete or incorrect glycosylated structure of protein drugs

GlycoConjugation™

A strategy of conjugating bioactive or functional moieties with either antibodies or glycoproteins through a sugar residue linkage

Glycoforms

Different molecular forms of a glycoprotein, resulting from variable glycan structure and/or glycan attachment site occupancy

Selective addition of the hydrophilic polymer, polyethylene glycol to therapeutic based proteins via the glycans

Glycoprotein

A protein with one or more covalently bound glycans

Glycosylation

The enzyme-catalyzed covalent attachment of a carbohydrate to a polypeptide, lipid, polynucleotide, carbohydrate, or other organic compound, generally catalyzed by glycosyltransferases, utilizing specific sugar nucleotide donor substrates

Glycosyltransferase

Enzyme that catalyzes transfer of a sugar from a sugar nucleotide donor to a substrate

Golgi apparatus

A cellular organelle of the cytoplasmic membrane. It is covered with cisternae, a closed, fluid-filled sac or vesicle, and is involved in secretory processes

Half-life

The time it takes for the body to eliminate or breakdown half of a dose of a pharmacologic agent

Immunogenicity

Describes the quality of a substance which is able to provoke an immune response against the substance

IND

FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) Application Process

Monosaccharides

Carbohydrate that can not be hydrolyzed into a simpler carbohydrate  The building block of oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.

N-glycans

An N-linked oligosaccharide

Organic synthesis

Experimental methods for the synthesis of organic compounds

PEG

Polyethylene glycol

Pharmacodynamic (PD)

This is the science concerned with the study of the way in which drugs and other chemicals exert their effects on living organisms

Pharmacokinetic (PK)

This is the science which describes quantitatively the uptake of drugs by the body, their biotransformation, their distribution, metabolism, and elimination from the body

Post Translational Modification

Alterations made to a protein after translation in the golgi by ribosomes such as proteolytic cleavage, carbohydrate/sugar attachment, methylation, or phosphylation

Proteolytic degredation

Complete breakdown of polypeptides to their amino acids

Recombinant

A fragment of DNA incorporated artificially into the DNA molecule of a suitable vector so that it can express itself many times. This way a large quantity of the DNA in question can be obtained. The DNA is usually one that contains genes of interest

Reticuloendothelial system (RES)

A system of phagocytes (cells which engulf and devour other cells) which can be found all over the body but are mostly concentrated in the liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and bone marrow, and are a part of the body's immune system

Sialylation

The attachment of sialic acid to the terminating positions of a glycoprotein via the enzyme sialyltransferase

Sugar nucleotide

Activated forms of monosaccharides, such as UDP-Gal, GDP-Fuc, and CMP-Sia, typically used as donor substrates by glycosyltransferases

Sugars

A generic term often used to refer to any carbohydrate, but most frequently to low-molecular-weight carbohydrates that are sweet in taste

Transferrin

A family of metal-binding proteins with an in-vivo preference for ferric iron

Transgenics

This term describes an organism that has had genes from another organism put into its genome through recombinant DNA techniques