Structural and Mechanistic Insights into Lunatic Fringe from a Kinetic
Analysis of Enzyme
Mutants |
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Authors: | Kelvin B Luther Hermann Schindelin and Robert S Haltiwanger |
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Institution: | Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute for Cell and Developmental Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5215 |
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Abstract: | The Notch receptor is critical for proper development where it orchestrates
numerous cell fate decisions. The Fringe family of
β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases are regulators of this
pathway. Fringe enzymes add N-acetylglucosamine to O-linked
fucose on the epidermal growth factor repeats of Notch. Here we have analyzed
the reaction catalyzed by Lunatic Fringe (Lfng) in detail. A mutagenesis
strategy for Lfng was guided by a multiple sequence alignment of Fringe
proteins and solutions from docking an epidermal growth factor-like
O-fucose acceptor substrate onto a homology model of Lfng. We
targeted three main areas as follows: residues that could help resolve where
the fucose binds, residues in two conserved loops not observed in the
published structure of Manic Fringe, and residues predicted to be involved in
UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) donor specificity. We utilized a
kinetic analysis of mutant enzyme activity toward the small molecule acceptor
substrate 4-nitrophenyl-α-l-fucopyranoside to judge their
effect on Lfng activity. Our results support the positioning of
O-fucose in a specific orientation to the catalytic residue. We also
found evidence that one loop closes off the active site coincident with, or
subsequent to, substrate binding. We propose a mechanism whereby the ordering
of this short loop may alter the conformation of the catalytic aspartate.
Finally, we identify several residues near the UDP-GlcNAc-binding site, which
are specifically permissive toward UDP-GlcNAc utilization.Defects in Notch signaling have been implicated in numerous human diseases,
including multiple sclerosis
(1), several forms of cancer
(2-4),
cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with sub-cortical infarcts and
leukoencephalopathy (5), and
spondylocostal dysostosis
(SCD)3
(6-8).
The transmembrane Notch signaling receptor is activated by members of the DSL
(Delta, Serrate, Lag2) family of ligands
(9,
10). In the endoplasmic
reticulum, O-linked fucose glycans are added to the epidermal growth
factor-like (EGF) repeats of the Notch extracellular domain by protein
O-fucosyltransferase 1
(11-13).
These O-fucose monosaccharides can be elongated in the Golgi
apparatus by three highly conserved
β1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases of the Fringe family
(Lunatic (Lfng), Manic (Mfng), and Radical Fringe (Rfng) in mammals)
(14-16).
The formation of this GlcNAc-β1,3-Fuc-α1,
O-serine/threonine disaccharide is necessary and sufficient for
subsequent elongation to a tetrasaccharide
(15,
19), although elongation past
the disaccharide in Drosophila is not yet clear
(20,
21). Elongation of
O-fucose by Fringe is known to potentiate Notch signaling from Delta
ligands and inhibit signaling from Serrate ligands
(22). Delta ligands are termed
Delta-like (Delta-like1, -2, and -4) in mammals, and the homologs of Serrate
are known as Jagged (Jagged1 and -2) in mammals. The effects of Fringe on
Drosophila Notch can be recapitulated in Notch ligand in
vitro binding assays using purified components, suggesting that the
elongation of O-fucose by Fringe alters the binding of Notch to its
ligands (21). Although Fringe
also appears to alter Notch-ligand interactions in mammals, the effects of
elongation of the glycan past the O-fucose monosaccharide is more
complicated and appears to be cell type-, receptor-, and ligand-dependent (for
a recent review see Ref.
23).The Fringe enzymes catalyze the transfer of GlcNAc from the donor substrate
UDP-α-GlcNAc to the acceptor fucose, forming the GlcNAc-β1,3-Fuc
disaccharide
(14-16).
They belong to the GT-A-fold of inverting glycosyltransferases, which includes
N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I and β1,4-galactosyltransferase
I (17,
18). The mechanism is presumed
to proceed through the abstraction of a proton from the acceptor substrate by
a catalytic base (Asp or Glu) in the active site. This creates a nucleophile
that attacks the anomeric carbon of the nucleotide-sugar donor, inverting its
configuration from α (on the nucleotide sugar) to β (in the
product) (24,
25). The enzyme then releases
the acceptor substrate modified with a disaccharide and UDP. The Mfng
structure (26) leaves little
doubt as to the identity of the catalytic residue, which in all likelihood is
aspartate 289 in mouse Lfng (we will use numbering for mouse Lunatic Fringe
throughout, unless otherwise stated). The structure of Mfng with UDP-GlcNAc
soaked into the crystals (26)
showed density only for the UDP portion of the nucleotide-sugar donor and no
density for two loops flanking either side of the active site. The presence of
flexible loops that become ordered upon substrate binding is a common
observation with glycosyltransferases in the GT-A fold family
(18,
25). Density for the entire
donor was observed in the structure of rabbit
N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I
(27). In this case, ordering
of a previously disordered loop upon UDP-GlcNAc binding may have contributed
to increased stability of the donor. In the case of bovine
β1,4-galactosyltransferase I, a section of flexible random coil from the
apo-structure was observed to change its conformation to α-helical upon
donor substrate binding (28).
Both loops in Lfng are highly conserved, and we have mutated a number of
residues in each to test the hypothesis that they interact with the
substrates. The mutagenesis strategy was also guided by docking of an
EGF-O-fucose acceptor substrate into the active site of the Lfng
model as well as comparison of the Lfng model with a homology model of the
β1,3-glucosyltransferase (β3GlcT) that modifies O-fucose on
thrombospondin type 1 repeats
(29,
30). The β3GlcT is
predicted to be a GT-A fold enzyme related to the Fringe family
(17,
18,
29). |
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