From peptide to protein: comparative analysis of the substrate specificity of N-linked glycosylation in C. jejuni

The gram-negative bacterium Campylobacter jejuni was recently discovered to contain a general N-linked protein glycosylation pathway. Central to this pathway is PglB, a homologue of the Stt3p subunit of the eukaryotic oligosaccharyl transferase (OT), which is involved in the transfer of an oligosaccharide from a polyisoprenyl pyrophosphate carrier to the asparagine side chain of proteins within the conserved glycosylation sites D/E-X1-N-X2-S/T, where X1 and X2 can be any amino acids except proline. Using a library of peptide substrates and a quantitative radioactivity-based in vitro assay, we assessed the amino acids at each position of the consensus glycosylation sequence for their impact on glycosylation efficiency, whereby the sequence DQNAT was found to be the optimal acceptor substrate. In the context of a full-length folded protein, the differences between variations of the glycosylation sequences were found to be consistent with the trends observed from their peptidyl counterparts, though less dramatic because of additional influences. In addition to characterizing the acceptor preferences of PglB, we also assessed the selectivity toward the glycan donor. Interestingly, despite recent reports of relaxed selectivity toward the glycan donor, PglB was not found to be capable of utilizing glycosyl donors such as dolichyl-pyrophosphate-chitobiose, which is the minimum substrate for the eukaryotic OT process.     

The N-X-S/T consensus sequence is required but not sufficient for bacterial N-linked protein glycosylation

In the Gram-negative bacterium Campylobacter jejuni there is a pgl (protein glycosylation) locus-dependent general N-glycosylation system of proteins. One of the proteins encoded by pgl locus, PglB, a homolog of the eukaryotic oligosaccharyltransferase component Stt3p, is proposed to function as an oligosaccharyltransferase in this prokaryotic system. The sequence requirements of the acceptor polypeptide for N-glycosylation were analyzed by reverse genetics using the reconstituted glycosylation of the model protein AcrA in Escherichia coli. As in eukaryotes, the N-X-S/T sequon is an essential but not a sufficient determinant for N-linked protein glycosylation. This conclusion was supported by the analysis of a novel C. jejuni glycoprotein, HisJ. Export of the polypeptide to the periplasm was required for glycosylation. Our data support the hypothesis that eukaryotic and bacterial N-linked protein glycosylation are homologous processes.     

Biochemical characterization of the O-linked glycosylation pathway in Neisseria gonorrhoeae responsible for biosynthesis of protein glycans containing N,N'-diacetylbacillosamine

The O-linked protein glycosylation pathway in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is responsible for the synthesis of a complex oligosaccharide on undecaprenyl diphosphate and subsequent en bloc transfer of the glycan to serine residues of select periplasmic proteins. Protein glycosylation (pgl) genes have been annotated on the basis of bioinformatics and top-down mass spectrometry analysis of protein modifications in pgl-null strains [Aas, F. E., et al. (2007) Mol. Microbiol. 65, 607-624; Vik, A., et al. (2009) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 4447-4452], but relatively little biochemical analysis has been performed to date. In this report, we present the expression, purification, and functional characterization of seven Pgl enzymes. Specifically, the enzymes studied are responsible for synthesis of an uncommon uridine diphosphate (UDP)-sugar (PglD, PglC, and PglB-acetyltransferase domain), glycan assembly (PglB-phospho-glycosyltransferase domain, PglA, PglE, and PglH), and final oligosaccharide transfer (PglO). UDP-2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-α-d-hexose (DATDH), which is the first sugar in glycan biosynthesis, was produced enzymatically, and the stereochemistry was assigned as uridine diphosphate N'-diacetylbacillosamine (UDP-diNAcBac) by nuclear magnetic resonance characterization. In addition, the substrate specificities of the phospho-glycosyltransferase, glycosyltransferases, and oligosaccharyltransferase (OTase) were analyzed in vitro, and in most cases, these enzymes exhibited strong preferences for the native substrates relative to closely related glycans. In particular, PglO, the O-linked OTase, and PglB(Cj), the N-linked OTase from Campylobacter jejuni, preferred the native N. gonorrhoeae and C. jejuni substrates, respectively. This study represents the first comprehensive biochemical characterization of this important O-linked glycosylation pathway and provides the basis for further investigations of these enzymes as antibacterial targets.     

Definition of the bacterial N-glycosylation site consensus sequence

The Campylobacter jejuni pgl locus encodes an N-linked protein glycosylation machinery that can be functionally transferred into Escherichia coli. In this system, we analyzed the elements in the C. jejuni N-glycoprotein AcrA required for accepting an N-glycan. We found that the eukaryotic primary consensus sequence for N-glycosylation is N terminally extended to D/E-Y-N-X-S/T (Y, X not equalP) for recognition by the bacterial oligosaccharyltransferase (OST) PglB. However, not all consensus sequences were N-glycosylated when they were either artificially introduced or when they were present in non-C. jejuni proteins. We were able to produce recombinant glycoproteins with engineered N-glycosylation sites and confirmed the requirement for a negatively charged side chain at position -2 in C. jejuni N-glycoproteins. N-glycosylation of AcrA by the eukaryotic OST in Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurred independent of the acidic residue at the -2 position. Thus, bacterial N-glycosylation site selection is more specific than the eukaryotic equivalent with respect to the polypeptide acceptor sequence.     

Characterization of the structurally diverse N-linked glycans of Campylobacter species

The Gram-negative bacterium Campylobacter jejuni encodes an extensively characterized N-linked protein glycosylation system that modifies many surface proteins with a heptasaccharide glycan. In C. jejuni, the genes that encode the enzymes required for glycan biosynthesis and transfer to protein are located at a single pgl gene locus. Similar loci are also present in the genome sequences of all other Campylobacter species, although variations in gene content and organization are evident. In this study, we have demonstrated that only Campylobacter species closely related to C. jejuni produce glycoproteins that interact with both a C. jejuni N-linked-glycan-specific antiserum and a lectin known to bind to the C. jejuni N-linked glycan. In order to further investigate the structure of Campylobacter N-linked glycans, we employed an in vitro peptide glycosylation assay combined with mass spectrometry to demonstrate that Campylobacter species produce a range of structurally distinct N-linked glycans with variations in the number of sugar residues (penta-, hexa-, and heptasaccharides), the presence of branching sugars, and monosaccharide content. These data considerably expand our knowledge of bacterial N-linked glycan structure and provide a framework for investigating the role of glycosyltransferases and sugar biosynthesis enzymes in glycoprotein biosynthesis with practical implications for synthetic biology and glycoengineering.     

Exploiting topological constraints to reveal buried sequence motifs in the membrane-bound N-linked oligosaccharyl transferases

The central enzyme in N-linked glycosylation is the oligosaccharyl transferase (OTase), which catalyzes glycan transfer from a polyprenyldiphosphate-linked carrier to select asparagines within acceptor proteins. PglB from Campylobacter jejuni is a single-subunit OTase with homology to the Stt3 subunit of the complex multimeric yeast OTase. Sequence identity between PglB and Stt3 is low (17.9%); however, both have a similar predicted architecture and contain the conserved WWDxG motif. To investigate the relationship between PglB and other Stt3 proteins, sequence analysis was performed using 28 homologues from evolutionarily distant organisms. Since detection of small conserved motifs within large membrane-associated proteins is complicated by divergent sequences surrounding the motifs, we developed a program to parse sequences according to predicted topology and then analyze topologically related regions. This approach identified three conserved motifs that served as the basis for subsequent mutagenesis and functional studies. This work reveals that several inter-transmembrane loop regions of PglB/Stt3 contain strictly conserved motifs that are essential for PglB function. The recent publication of a 3.4 ? resolution structure of full-length C. lari OTase provides clear structural evidence that these loops play a fundamental role in catalysis [ Lizak , C. ; ( 2011 ) Nature 474 , 350 - 355 ]. The current study provides biochemical support for the role of the inter-transmembrane domain loops in OTase catalysis and demonstrates the utility of combining topology prediction and sequence analysis for exposing buried pockets of homology in large membrane proteins. The described approach allowed detection of the catalytic motifs prior to availability of structural data and reveals additional catalytically relevant residues that are not predicted by structural data alone.     

Functional analysis of the Campylobacter jejuni N-linked protein glycosylation pathway

We describe in this report the characterization of the recently discovered N-linked glycosylation locus of the human bacterial pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, the first such system found in a species from the domain Bacteria. We exploited the ability of this locus to function in Escherichia coli to demonstrate through mutational and structural analyses that variant glycan structures can be transferred onto protein indicating the relaxed specificity of the putative oligosaccharyltransferase PglB. Structural data derived from these variant glycans allowed us to infer the role of five individual glycosyltransferases in the biosynthesis of the N-linked heptasaccharide. Furthermore, we show that C. jejuni- and E. coli-derived pathways can interact in the biosynthesis of N-linked glycoproteins. In particular, the E. coli encoded WecA protein, a UDP-GlcNAc: undecaprenylphosphate GlcNAc-1-phosphate transferase involved in glycolipid biosynthesis, provides for an alternative N-linked heptasaccharide biosynthetic pathway bypassing the requirement for the C. jejuni-derived glycosyltransferase PglC. This is the first experimental evidence that biosynthesis of the N-linked glycan occurs on a lipid-linked precursor prior to transfer onto protein. These findings provide a framework for understanding the process of N-linked protein glycosylation in Bacteria and for devising strategies to exploit this system for glycoengineering.     

Structural context for protein N-glycosylation in bacteria: The structure of PEB3, an adhesin from Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter jejuni is unusual among bacteria in possessing a eukaryotic-like system for N-linked protein glycosylation at Asn residues in sequons of the type Asp/Glu-Xaa-Asn-Xaa-Ser/Thr. However, little is known about the structural context of the glycosylated sequons, limiting the design of novel recombinant glycoproteins. To obtain more information on sequon structure, we have determined the crystal structure of the PEB3 (Cj0289c) dimer. PEB3 has the class II periplasmic-binding protein fold, with each monomer having two domains with a ligand-binding site containing citrate located between them, and overall resembles molybdate- and sulfate-binding proteins. The sequon around Asn90 is located within a surface-exposed loop joining two structural elements. The three key residues are well exposed on the surface; hence, they may be accessible to the PglB oligosaccharyltransferase in the folded state.     

A Catalytically Essential Motif in External Loop 5 of the Bacterial Oligosaccharyltransferase PglB

Asparagine-linked glycosylation is a post-translational protein modification that is conserved in all domains of life. The initial transfer of a lipid-linked oligosaccharide (LLO) onto acceptor asparagines is catalyzed by the integral membrane protein oligosaccharyltransferase (OST). The previously reported structure of a single-subunit OST enzyme, the Campylobacter lari protein PglB, revealed a partially disordered external loop (EL5), whose role in catalysis was unclear. We identified a new and functionally important sequence motif in EL5 containing a conserved tyrosine residue (Tyr²⁹³) whose aromatic side chain is essential for catalysis. A synthetic peptide containing the conserved motif can partially but specifically rescue in vitro activity of mutated PglB lacking Tyr²⁹³. Using site-directed disulfide cross-linking, we show that disengagement of the structurally ordered part of EL5 is an essential step of the glycosylation reaction, probably by allowing sequon binding or glyco-product release. Our findings define two distinct mechanistic roles of EL5 in OST-catalyzed glycosylation. These functions, exerted by the two halves of EL5, are independent, because the loop can be cleaved by specific proteolysis with only slight reduction in activity.     

Comparison of the localization and post-translational modification of Campylobacter coli CjaC and its homolog from Campylobacter jejuni, Cj0734c/HisJ

Campylobacter is an asaccharolytic microorganism which uses amino acids as a source of carbon and energy. CjaC/HisJ is a ligand-binding protein, a component of the ABC transport system. Campylobacter CjaC/HisJ is post-translationally modified by glycosylation. The number of glycosylation motifs present in the CjaC protein is species-specific. C. coli CjaC has two and C. jejuni one motif (E/DXNYS/T) which serves as a glycan acceptor. Although the two C. coli CjaC motifs have identical amino-acid sequences they are not glycosylated with the same efficiency. The efficacy of CjaC glycosylation in Escherichia coli containing the Campylobacter pgl locus is also rather low compared to that observed in the native host. The CjaC localization is host-dependent. Despite being a lipoprotein, CjaC is recovered in E. coli from the periplasmic space whereas in Campylobacter it is anchored to the inner membrane.     

Characterization of the Campylobacter jejuni heptosyltransferase II gene, waaF, provides genetic evidence that extracellular polysaccharide is lipid A core independent

Campylobacter jejuni produces both lipooligosaccharide (LOS) and a higher-molecular-weight polysaccharide that is believed to form a capsule. The role of these surface polysaccharides in C. jejuni-mediated enteric disease is unclear; however, epitopes associated with the LOS are linked to the development of neurological complications. In Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium the waaF gene encodes a heptosyltransferase, which catalyzes the transfer of the second L-glycero-D-manno-heptose residue to the core oligosaccharide moiety of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and mutation of waaF results in a truncated core oligosaccharide. In this report we confirm experimentally that C. jejuni gene Cj1148 encodes the heptosyltransferase II enzyme, WaaF. The Campylobacter waaF gene complements an S. enterica serovar Typhimurium waaF mutation and restores the ability to produce full-sized lipopolysaccharide. To examine the role of WaaF in C. jejuni, waaF mutants were constructed in strains NCTC 11168 and NCTC 11828. Loss of heptosyltransferase activity resulted in the production of a truncated core oligosaccharide, failure to bind specific ligands, and loss of serum reactive GM(1), asialo-GM(1), and GM(2) ganglioside epitopes. The mutation of waaF did not affect the higher-molecular-weight polysaccharide supporting the production of a LOS-independent capsular polysaccharide by C. jejuni. The exact structural basis for the truncation of the core oligosaccharide was verified by comparative chemical analysis. The NCTC 11168 core oligosaccharide differs from that known for HS:2 strain CCUG 10936 in possessing an extra terminal disaccharide of galactose-beta(1,3) N-acetylgalactosamine. In comparison, the waaF mutant possessed a truncated molecule consistent with that observed with waaF mutants in other bacterial species.     

Increased efficiency of Campylobacter jejuni N-oligosaccharyltransferase PglB by structure-guided engineering

Conjugate vaccines belong to the most efficient preventive measures against life-threatening bacterial infections. Functional expression of N-oligosaccharyltransferase (N-OST) PglB of Campylobacter jejuni in Escherichia coli enables a simplified production of glycoconjugate vaccines in prokaryotic cells. Polysaccharide antigens of pathogenic bacteria can be covalently coupled to immunogenic acceptor proteins bearing engineered glycosylation sites. Transfer efficiency of PglB_Cj is low for certain heterologous polysaccharide substrates. In this study, we increased glycosylation rates for Salmonella enterica sv. Typhimurium LT2 O antigen (which lacks N-acetyl sugars) and Staphylococcus aureus CP5 polysaccharides by structure-guided engineering of PglB. A three-dimensional homology model of membrane-associated PglB_Cj, docked to the natural C. jejuni N-glycan attached to the acceptor peptide, was used to identify potential sugar-interacting residues as targets for mutagenesis. Saturation mutagenesis of an active site residue yielded the enhancing mutation N311V, which facilitated fivefold to 11-fold increased in vivo glycosylation rates as determined by glycoprotein-specific ELISA. Further rounds of in vitro evolution led to a triple mutant S80R-Q287P-N311V enabling a yield improvement of S. enterica LT2 glycoconjugates by a factor of 16. Our results demonstrate that bacterial N-OST can be tailored to specific polysaccharide substrates by structure-guided protein engineering.     

Neisseria gonorrhoeae O-linked pilin glycosylation: functional analyses define both the biosynthetic pathway and glycan structure

Neisseria gonorrhoeae expresses an O-linked protein glycosylation pathway that targets PilE, the major pilin subunit protein of the Type IV pilus colonization factor. Efforts to define glycan structure and thus the functions of pilin glycosylation (Pgl) components at the molecular level have been hindered by the lack of sensitive methodologies. Here, we utilized a 'top-down' mass spectrometric approach to characterize glycan status using intact pilin protein from isogenic mutants. These structural data enabled us to directly infer the function of six components required for pilin glycosylation and to define the glycan repertoire of strain N400. Additionally, we found that the N. gonorrhoeae pilin glycan is O-acetylated, and identified an enzyme essential for this unique modification. We also identified the N. gonorrhoeae pilin oligosaccharyltransferase using bioinformatics and confirmed its role in pilin glycosylation by directed mutagenesis. Finally, we examined the effects of expressing the PglA glycosyltransferase from the Campylobacter jejuni N-linked glycosylation system that adds N-acetylgalactosamine onto undecaprenylpyrophosphate-linked bacillosamine. The results indicate that the C. jejuni and N. gonorrhoeae pathways can interact in the synthesis of O-linked di- and trisaccharides, and therefore provide the first experimental evidence that biosynthesis of the N. gonorrhoeae pilin glycan involves a lipid-linked oligosaccharide precursor. Together, these findings underpin more detailed studies of pilin glycosylation biology in both N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis, and demonstrate how components of bacterial O- and N-linked pathways can be combined in novel glycoengineering strategies.     

Improving N-glycosylation efficiency in Escherichia coli using shotgun proteomics, metabolic network analysis, and selective reaction monitoring

Recently, the prospect of using Escherichia coli as a host for human glycoprotein production has increased due to detailed characterization of the prokaryotic N-glycosylation process and the ability to transfer the system into this bacterium. Although functionality of the native Campylobacter jejuni N-glycosylation system in E. coli has been demonstrated, the efficiency of the process using the well-characterized C. jejuni glycoprotein AcrA, was found to be low at 13.4±0.9% of total extracted protein. A combined approach using isobaric labeling of peptides and probability-based network analysis of metabolic changes was applied to forward engineer E. coli to improve glycosylation efficiency of AcrA. Enhancing flux through the glyoxylate cycle was identified as a potential metabolic manipulation to improve modification efficiency and was achieved by increasing the expression of isocitrate lyase. While the overall recombinant protein titre did not change significantly, the amount of glycosylated protein increased by approximately 300%.     

Functional characterization of dehydratase/aminotransferase pairs from Helicobacter and Campylobacter: enzymes distinguishing the pseudaminic acid and bacillosamine biosynthetic pathways

Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni have been shown to modify their flagellins with pseudaminic acid (Pse), via O-linkage, while C. jejuni also possesses a general protein glycosylation pathway (Pgl) responsible for the N-linked modification of at least 30 proteins with a heptasaccharide containing 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose, a derivative of bacillosamine. To further define the Pse and bacillosamine biosynthetic pathways, we have undertaken functional characterization of UDP-alpha-D-GlcNAc modifying dehydratase/aminotransferase pairs, in particular the H. pylori and C. jejuni flagellar pairs HP0840/HP0366 and Cj1293/Cj1294, as well as the C. jejuni Pgl pair Cj1120c/Cj1121c using His(6)-tagged purified derivatives. The metabolites produced by these enzymes were identified using NMR spectroscopy at 500 and/or 600 MHz with a cryogenically cooled probe for optimal sensitivity. The metabolites of Cj1293 (PseB) and HP0840 (FlaA1) were found to be labile and could only be characterized by NMR analysis directly in aqueous reaction buffer. The Cj1293 and HP0840 enzymes exhibited C6 dehydratase as well as a newly identified C5 epimerase activity that resulted in the production of both UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-beta-L-arabino-4-hexulose and UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-xylo-4-hexulose. In contrast, the Pgl dehydratase Cj1120c (PglF) was found to possess only C6 dehydratase activity generating UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-xylo-4-hexulose. Substrate-specificity studies demonstrated that the flagellar aminotransferases HP0366 and Cj1294 utilize only UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-beta-L-arabino-4-hexulose as substrate producing UDP-4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-beta-L-AltNAc, a precursor in the Pse biosynthetic pathway. In contrast, the Pgl aminotransferase Cj1121c (PglE) utilizes only UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-xylo-4-hexulose producing UDP-4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-GlcNAc (UDP-2-acetamido-4-amino-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose), a precursor used in the production of the Pgl glycan component 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose.     

Functional characterization of the flagellar glycosylation locus in Campylobacter jejuni 81-176 using a focused metabolomics approach

Bacterial genome sequencing has provided a wealth of genetic data. However, the definitive functional characterization of hypothetical open reading frames and novel biosynthetic genes remains challenging. This is particularly true for genes involved in protein glycosylation because the isolation of their glycan moieties is often problematic. We have developed a focused metabolomics approach to define the function of flagellin glycosylation genes in Campylobacter jejuni 81-176. A capillary electrophoresis-electrospray mass spectrometry and precursor ion scanning method was used to examine cell lysates of C. jejuni 81-176 for sugar nucleotides. Novel nucleotide-activated intermediates of the pseudaminic acid (Pse5NAc7NAc) pathway and its acetamidino derivative (PseAm) were found to accumulate within select isogenic mutants, and use of a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method permitted large scale purifications of the intermediates. NMR with cryo probe (cold probe) technology was utilized to complete the structural characterization of microgram quantities of CMP-5-acetamido-7-acetamidino-3,5,7,9-tetradeoxy-L-glycero-alpha-L-manno-nonulosonic acid (CMP-Pse5NAc7Am), which is the first report of Pse modified at C7 with an acetamidino group in Campylobacter, and UDP-2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose, which is a bacillosamine derivative found in the N-linked proteinglycan. Using this focused metabolomics approach, pseB, pseC, pseF, pseI, and for the first time pseA, pseG, and pseH were found to be directly involved in either the biosynthesis of CMP-Pse5NAc7NAc or CMP-Pse5NAc7Am. In contrast, it was shown that pseD, pseE, Cj1314c, Cj1315c, Cjb1301, Cj1334, Cj1341c, and Cj1342c have no role in the CMP-Pse5NAc7NAc or CMP-Pse5NAc7Am pathways. These results demonstrate the usefulness of this approach for targeting compounds within the bacterial metabolome to assign function to genes, identify metabolic intermediates, and elucidate novel biosynthetic pathways.     

A cell‐free platform for rapid synthesis and testing of active oligosaccharyltransferases

Protein glycosylation, or the attachment of sugar moieties (glycans) to proteins, is important for protein stability, activity, and immunogenicity. However, understanding the roles and regulations of site‐specific glycosylation events remains a significant challenge due to several technological limitations. These limitations include a lack of available tools for biochemical characterization of enzymes involved in glycosylation. A particular challenge is the synthesis of oligosaccharyltransferases (OSTs), which catalyze the attachment of glycans to specific amino acid residues in target proteins. The difficulty arises from the fact that canonical OSTs are large (>70 kDa) and possess multiple transmembrane helices, making them difficult to overexpress in living cells. Here, we address this challenge by establishing a bacterial cell‐free protein synthesis platform that enables rapid production of a variety of OSTs in their active conformations. Specifically, by using lipid nanodiscs as cellular membrane mimics, we obtained yields of up to 420 μg/ml for the single‐subunit OST enzyme, “Protein glycosylation B” (PglB) from Campylobacter jejuni, as well as for three additional PglB homologs from Campylobacter coli, Campylobacter lari, and Desulfovibrio gigas. Importantly, all of these enzymes catalyzed N‐glycosylation reactions in vitro with no purification or processing needed. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability of cell‐free synthesized OSTs to glycosylate multiple target proteins with varying N‐glycosylation acceptor sequons. We anticipate that this broadly applicable production method will advance glycoengineering efforts by enabling preparative expression of membrane‐embedded OSTs from all kingdoms of life.

     

Pseudaminic acid, the major modification on Campylobacter flagellin, is synthesized via the Cj1293 gene

Flagellins from Campylobacter jejuni 81-176 and Campylobacter coli VC167 are heavily glycosylated. The major modifications on both flagellins are pseudaminic acid (Pse5Ac7Ac), a nine carbon sugar that is similar to sialic acid, and an acetamidino-substituted analogue of pseudaminic acid (PseAm). Previous data have indicated that PseAm is synthesized via Pse5Ac7Ac in C. jejuni 81-176, but that the two sugars are synthesized using independent pathways in C. coli VC167. The Cj1293 gene of C. jejuni encodes a putative UDP-GlcNAc C6-dehydratase/C4-reductase that is similar to a protein required for glycosylation of Caulobacter crescentus flagellin. The Cj1293 gene is expressed either under the control of a sigma 54 promoter that overlaps the coding region of Cj1292 or as a polycistronic message under the control of a sigma 70 promoter upstream of Cj1292. A mutant in gene Cj1293 in C. jejuni 81-176 was non-motile and non-flagellated and accumulated unglycosylated flagellin intracellularly. This mutant was complemented in trans with the homologous C. jejuni gene, as well as the Helicobacter pylori homologue, HP0840, which has been shown to encode a protein with UDP-GlcNAc C6-dehydratase/C4-reductase activity. Mutation of Cj1293 in C. coli VC167 resulted in a fully motile strain that synthesized a flagella filament composed of flagellin in which Pse5Ac7Ac was replaced by PseAm. The filament from the C. coli Cj1293 mutant displayed increased solubility in SDS compared with the wild-type filament. A double mutant in C. coli VC167, defective in both Cj1293 and ptmD, encoding part of the independent PseAm pathway, was also non-motile and non-flagellated and accumulated unglycosylated flagellin intracellularly. Collectively, the data indicate that Cj1293 is essential for Pse5Ac7Ac biosynthesis from UDP-GlcNAc, and that glycosylation is required for flagella biogenesis in campylobacters.     

Detection of conserved N-linked glycans and phase-variable lipooligosaccharides and capsules from campylobacter cells by mass spectrometry and high resolution magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy

Glycomics, the study of microbial polysaccharides and genes responsible for their formation, requires the continuous development of rapid and sensitive methods for the identification of glycan structures. In this study, methods for the direct analysis of sugars from 108 to 1010 cells are outlined using the human gastrointestinal pathogen, Campylobacter jejuni. Using capillary-electrophoresis coupled with sensitive electrospray mass spectrometry, we demonstrate variability in the lipid A component of C. jejuni lipooligosaccharides (LOSs). In addition, these sensitive methods have permitted the detection of phase-variable LOS core structures that were not observed previously. High resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) NMR was used to examine capsular polysaccharides directly from campylobacter cells and showed profiles similar to those observed for purified polysaccharides analyzed by solution NMR. This method also exhibited the feasibility of campylobacter serotyping, mutant verification, and preliminary sugar analysis. HR-MAS NMR examination of growth from individual colonies of C. jejuni NCTC11168 indicated that the capsular glycan modifications are also phase-variable. These variants show different staining patterns on deoxycholate-PAGE and reactivity with immune sera. One of the identified modifications was a novel -OP=O(NH2)OMe phosphoramide, not observed previously in nature. In addition, HR-MAS NMR detected the N-linked glycan, GalNAc-alpha1,4-GalNAc-alpha1,4-[Glc-beta1,3-]GalNAc-alpha1,4-GalNAc-alpha1,4-GalNAc-alpha1,3-Bac, where Bac is 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-d-glucopyranose, in C. jejuni and Campylobacter coli. The presence of this common heptasaccharide in multiple campylobacter isolates demonstrates the conservation of the N-linked protein glycosylation pathway in this organism and describes the first report of HR-MAS NMR detection of N-linked glycans on glycoproteins from intact bacterial cells.     

N-glycosylated proteins and distinct lipooligosaccharide glycoforms of Campylobacter jejuni target the human C-type lectin receptor MGL

An increasing number of bacterial pathogens produce an array of glycoproteins of unknown function. Here we report that Campylobacter jejuni proteins that are modified by the N -linked glycosylation machinery encoded by the pgl locus bind the human Macrophage Galactose-type lectin (MGL). MGL receptor binding was abrogated by EDTA and N -acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and was successfully transferred to Escherichia coli by introducing the C. jejuni pgl locus together with a glycan acceptor protein. In addition to glycoproteins, C. jejuni lipooligosaccharide with a terminal GalNAc residue was recognized by MGL. Recombinant E. coli expressing the C. jejuni pgl locus in the absence of a suitable glycan acceptor protein produced altered lipopolysaccharide glycoforms that gained MGL reactivity. Infection assays demonstrated high levels of GalNAc-dependent interaction of the recombinant E. coli with MGL-transfected mammalian cells. In addition, interleukin-6 production by human dendritic cells was enhanced by C. jejuni lacking N -linked glycans compared with wild-type bacteria. Collectively, our results provide evidence that both N -linked glycoproteins and distinct lipooligosaccharide glycoforms of C. jejuni are ligands for the human C-type lectin MGL and that the C. jejuni N -glycosylation machinery can be exploited to target recombinant bacteria to MGL-expressing eukaryotic cells.