Biosynthesis of heparin. O-sulfation of the antithrombin-binding region

The antithrombin-binding region in heparin is a pentasaccharide sequence with the predominant structure GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(3,6-di-OSO3)-IdoA -(2-OSO3)-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3) (where GlcA and IdoA represent D-glucuronic and L-iduronic acid, respectively), in which the 3-O-sulfate residue on the internal glucosaminyl unit is a marker group for this particular region of the polysaccharide molecule. A heparin octasaccharide which contained the above pentasaccharide sequence was N/O-desulfated and re-N-sulfated and was then incubated with adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-phospho[35S]sulfate in the presence of a microsomal fraction from mouse mastocytoma tissue. Fractionation of the resulting 35S-labeled octasaccharide on antithrombin-Sepharose yielded a high affinity fraction that accounted for approximately 2% of the total incorporated label. Structural analysis of this fraction indicated that the internal glucosamine unit of the pentasaccharide sequence was 3-O-35S-sulfated, whereas both adjacent glucosamine units carried 6-O-[35S]sulfate groups. In contrast, the fractions with low affinity for antithrombin (approximately 98% of incorporated 35S) showed no consistent O-35S sulfation pattern and essentially lacked glucosaminyl 3-O-[35S]sulfate groups. It is suggested that the 3-O-sulfation reaction concludes the formation of the antithrombin-binding region. This proposal was corroborated in a similar experiment using a synthetic pentasaccharide with the structure GlcNSO3(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3)-Id oA (2-OSO3)-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3) as sulfate acceptor. This molecule corresponds to a functional antithrombin-binding region but for the lack of a 3-O-sulfate group at the internal glucosamine unit. The 35S-labeled pentasaccharide recovered after incubation bound with high affinity to antithrombin-Sepharose and contained a 3-O-[35S]sulfate group at the internal glucosamine residue as the only detectable labeled component. The use of this pentasaccharide substrate along with the affinity matrix provides a highly specific assay for the 3-O-sulfotransferase.     

Biosynthesis of heparin. Availability of glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfation sites

Heparin preparations isolated from pig intestinal mucosa and from bovine lung were fractionated with regard to affinity for antithrombin. The resulting fractions, with high (HA) or low (LA) affinity for the proteinase inhibitor, were analyzed by 13C NMR or by identification of di- and tetrasaccharides obtained through deaminative cleavage with nitrous acid. Structural differences between corresponding HA and LA fractions were essentially restricted to minor constituents, in particular 3-O-sulfated glucosamine units that occurred (1 or 2 residues/chain) in all HA preparations but were scarce or absent in LA heparin. The HA fractions also consistently showed higher contents of nonsulfated iduronic acid and, to a lesser extent, N-acetylated glucosamine units than the LA fractions. The two tetrasaccharide sequences, -IdoA-GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3- and -IdoA-GlcNAc(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3)- , recently implicated as part of the acceptor site for glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfate groups (Kusche, M., B?ckstr?m, G., Riesenfeld, J., Petitou, M., Choay, J., and Lindahl, U. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 15474-15484), were identified in mucosal LA heparin; it was calculated that the preparation contained approximately one potential acceptor site/polysaccharide chain. Yet this material did not yield any labeled HA components on incubation with adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-phospho-[35S]sulfate in the presence of glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfotransferase, solubilized from a mouse mastocytoma microsomal fraction. The failure to incorporate any 3-O-sulfate groups could conceivably be explained by the occurrence of a D-glucuronic rather than L-iduronic acid unit linked at the reducing ends of the above tetrasaccharide sequences. Alternatively, 3-O-sulfation may be restricted by other, as yet unidentified, inhibitory structural elements that are preferentially expressed in polysaccharide sequences selected for the generation of LA heparin.     

Effect of cycloheximide, beta-D-xylosides and beta-D-galactosides on heparin biosynthesis in mouse mastocytoma.

Heparin biosynthesis has been investigated with mouse mastocytoma in vitro. Minced tumour tissue catalysed the incorporation of [35S]sulphate and [3H]glucosamine into heparin and to a smaller extent into chondroitin sulphate. Addition of cycloheximide caused an inhibition (greater than 80%) of incorporation of each labelled precursor into both polysaccharides. Addition of benzyl beta-D-xyloside relieved the inhibition of incorporation into chondroitin sulphate and restored it to more than threefold that of the control incubation. The effect of beta-D-xyloside on incorporation into heparin was less marked although a consistent small increase of incorporation into this polysaccharide was observed. beta-D-Xyloside did, however, cause a marked incorporation of 35S and 3H labels into material of low molecular weight, which appeared to comprise heparin-like fragments. It is proposed that these fragments arise through a breakdown of the usual process of heparin biosynthesis.     

Assay of N-acetylheparosan deacetylase with a capsular polysaccharide from Escherichia coli K5 as substrate

A new substrate for the deacetylase which catalyzes the removal of the N-acetyl groups from N-acetylheparosan in the course of heparin biosynthesis has been prepared. The capsular polysaccharide from Escherichia coli 010:K5:H4, which is structurally identical to N-acetylheparosan, was partially N-deacetylated by hydrazinolysis and was then radioactively labeled by N-acetylation with [3H]acetic anhydride. Upon incubation of the labeled polysaccharide with microsomes from the Furth mastocytoma, [3H]acetyl groups were released, demonstrating that the bacterial polysaccharide was a substrate for the N-deacetylase. Reaction conditions were established which permitted the quantitative assay of N-deacetylase activity; a Km of 74 mg polysaccharide/liter was determined, which corresponds to 2.1 X 10(-4) M, expressed as concentration of uronic acid; Vmax was 3.4 nmol/mg protein/liter. In confirmation of previous results, it was observed (a) that the reaction was stimulated by 3'-phosphoadenylylsulfate (up to a maximum of 45% at a concentration of 0.5 mM), suggesting that N-sulfation occurred which facilitated continued action of the N-deacetylase, and (b) that NaCl and KCl inhibited the enzyme, with 50% reduction of activity at a concentration of 25 mM. In the course of this work, a simple, single-vial assay procedure was used. Released [3H]acetate was extracted from the acidified reaction mixture with a toluene- or xylene-based scintillation fluid containing 10% isoamyl alcohol and measured directly by scintillation spectrometry.     

Effect of sodium butyrate on the production of serotonin, histamine and glycosaminoglycans by cultured murine mastocytoma cells

Effect of sodium butyrate on the cellular serotonin, histamine and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) contents of mastocytoma p-815 cells was examined. When mastocytoma p-815-4 cells were cultured for 4 days in the presence of butyrate at 2 mM, the optimal concentration for the induction of granulopoiesis in this cell line, the cellular serotonin, histamine and GAGs contents increased markedly: serotonin increased almost 7 times, histamine 140 times and total GAGs 10 times. Chondroitinase ABC-resistant GAGs, heparin and/or heparan sulfate, increased 21 times. These cellular products reached at 3 or 4 days culture their maximal levels which depended on the amount of butyrate added up to 2 mM. The effectiveness of butyrate varied among the cloned cell lines: serotonin and histamine contents did not increase in mastocytoma p-815-6 cells, in which butyrate failed to induce granulopoiesis.     

Biosynthesis of heparin. Enzymatic sulfation of pentasaccharides

Heparin-derived pentasaccharides with the general structures GlcN-GlcA/IdoA-GlcN-GlcA/IdoA-GlcN (where GlcA represents D-glucuronic acid and IdoA represents L-iduronic acid) and GlcNSO3-GlcA/IdoA-GlcNSO3-GlcA/IdoA- GlcNSO3 (where -NSO3 represents an N-sulfate group) were tested as exogenous sulfate acceptors in incubations with adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-[35S]phosphosulfate and microsomal enzymes from a heparin-producing mouse mastocytoma. No transfer occurred to the N-unsubstituted pentasaccharide containing only L-iduronic acid, but the other three isomers incorporated various amounts of 35S, which was totally present in N-sulfate groups. After complete chemical N-sulfation, all four pentasaccharides served as acceptors in O-sulfotransferase reactions and incorporated from 20 to greater than 200 times as much radioactivity as did the nonsulfated parent compounds. The C-6 position of the internal glucosamine unit was labeled preferentially, irrespective of the structures of the adjacent hexuronic acid units. Significant 2-O-35S-sulfation of IdoA units occurred in both -IdoA-Glc-NSO3-GlcA- and -GlcA-GlcNSO3-IdoA- sequences, whereas no significant sulfation of GlcA residues was detected. The pentasaccharide GlcNSO3-GlcA-Glc-NSO3-GlcA-GlcNSO3 thus can be used as a selective substrate in assays for glucosaminyl-6-O-sulfotransferase activity. The antithrombin-binding region, essential for the blood anticoagulant activity of heparin, has been identified as a pentasaccharide sequence with the predominant structure GlcNR(6-OSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(3,6-di-OSO3)-++ +IdoA(2-OSO3)-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3) (where R represents either a sulfate or an acetyl group and -OSO3 represents an O-sulfate/ester sulfate group, with locations of O-sulfate groups indicated in parentheses) (Lindahl U., Thunberg, L., B?ckstr?m, G., Riesenfeld, J., Nordling, K., and Bj?rk, I. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 12368-12376). The products of [35S]sulfate transfer to the pentasaccharide GlcNSO3-GlcA-GlcNSO3-IdoA-GlcNSO3 contained molecules with high affinity for antithrombin, corresponding to 0.3-0.5% of the total label. Structural analysis suggested the occurrence of O-[35S]sulfate groups at both C-6 of the nonreducing terminal glucosamine unit and C-3 of the internal glucosamine unit. No products with high affinity for antithrombin were formed from the pentasaccharides that had a different monosaccharide sequence than the binding region; and moreover, these oligosaccharides appeared unable to incorporate glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfate groups. These findings point to the importance of the uronic acid sequence in the generation of the antithrombin-binding region of heparin.     

Biosynthesis of heparin/heparan sulfate: kinetic studies of the glucuronyl C5-epimerase with N-sulfated derivatives of the Escherichia coli K5 capsular polysaccharide as substrates

The D-glucuronyl C5-epimerase involved in the biosynthesis of heparin and heparan sulfate was investigated with focus on its substrate specificity, its kinetic properties, and a comparison of epimerase preparations from the Furth mastocytoma and bovine liver, which synthesize heparin and heparan sulfate, respectively. New substrates for the epimerase were prepared from the capsular polysaccharide of Escherichia coli K5, which had been labeled at C5 of its D-glucuronic and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine moieties by growing the bacteria in the presence of D-[5-(3)H]glucose. Following complete or partial ( approximately 50%) N-deacetylation of the polysaccharide by hydrazinolysis, the free amino groups were sulfated by treatment with trimethylamine.SO(3)complex, which yielded products that were recognized as substrates by the epimerase and released tritium from C5 of the D-glucuronyl residues upon incubation with the enzyme. Comparison of the kinetic properties of the two substrates showed that the fully N-sulfated derivative was the best substrate in terms of its K(m)value, which was significantly lower than that of its partially N-acetylated counterpart. The V(max)values for the E.coli polysaccharide derivatives were essentially the same but were both lower than that of the O-desulfated [(3)H]heparin used in our previous studies. Surprisingly, the apparent K(m)values for all three substrates increased with increasing enzyme concentration. The reason for this phenomenon is not entirely clear at present. Partially purified C5-epimerase preparations from the Furth mastocytoma and bovine liver, respectively, behaved similarly in terms of their reactivity towards the various substrates, but the variation in apparent K(m)values with enzyme concentration precluded a detailed comparison of their kinetic properties.     

Structure and antithrombin-binding properties of heparin isolated from the clams Anomalocardia brasiliana and Tivela mactroides

Heparin with high anticoagulant activity was isolated from the two marine clam species Anomalocardia brasiliana and Tivela mactroides. A large portion of the polysaccharide chains of both preparations bound with high affinity to immobilized antithrombin. Titrations monitored by tryptophan fluorescence showed that clam polysaccharide chains with Mr approximately 22,500 contained up to three binding sites for antithrombin and that the binding constants for the interaction of these chains with antithrombin were higher than those reported for mammalian heparin of comparable size. Structural analysis of clam heparin fractions and subfractions of clam heparin with differing affinity for immobilized antithrombin revealed the presence of large amounts (up to 25-30% of the total disaccharide units) of the 3-O-sulfated saccharide sequences (-GlcNSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(3-OSO3)- and (-GlcNSO3)-GlcA-GlcNSO3(3,6-di-OSO3)-, previously identified as unique markers for the antithrombin-binding region of heparin. The content of these saccharide sequences was found to increase with increasing affinity of the parent polysaccharide for antithrombin. Structural analysis of the clam heparins also demonstrated the occurrence of a novel saccharide sequence, tentatively identified as (-GlcNSO3)-IdA-GlcNSO3(3,6-di-OSO3)-, that has not previously been found in heparin or related polysaccharides. The contents of this latter sequence, at most 3-4% of the total disaccharide units, showed no correlation with the affinity for antithrombin.     

Changes in the cellular glycosaminoglycans of cultured mastocytoma cells induced by sodium butyrate

The effect of sodium butyrate on the cellular glycosaminoglycans of cultured mastocytoma p-815-4 cells was investigated using enzymic digestion, electrophoresis, nitrous acid degradation, and sequential partition fractionation. The average cellular glycosaminoglycan content of mastocytoma p-815-4 cells grown in the presence of 2 mM sodium butyrate was ten times as much as that of the control p-815-4 cells. Approximately 90% of the glycosaminoglycans isolated from the control cells and 70% from the butyrate-treated cells were found to be chondroitin 4-sulfate by enzymic digestion. The remainders were chondroitinase ABC-resistant. Hyaluronic acid and dermatan sulfate were not detected in either control cells or butyrate-treated cells. The chondroitinase ABC-resistant fraction of glycosaminoglycans from butyrate-treated cells showed a molar ratio of sulfate to uronic acid of more than 2.0, and provided some physicochemical properties characteristics to reference bovine lung heparin.     

Location of antithrombin-binding regions in rat skin heparin proteoglycans.

Rat skin heparin proteoglycan labelled biosynthetically with 35S was fractionated on a column of antithrombin-Sepharose into fractions with varying degrees of affinity for antithrombin. These were treated with NaOH to release heparin chains (Mr 60,000-100,000), by beta-elimination or incubated with serum to produce fragments of the same order of size as commercial heparin (Mr 5000-30,000), by endoglycosidase cleavage. Chains and fragments were then fractionated on antithrombin-Sepharose. The various fractions were deaminated with HNO2 at pH 1.5 followed by reduction with NaB3H4. Approx 90% of the incorporated 3H was associated with disaccharides. These were fractionated by high-performance ion-exchange chromatography. A unique minor component corresponding to the sequence glucuronosyl-N-sulphoglucosaminyl (3,6-di-O-sulphate) in the polysaccharide was found only in fractions with high affinity for antithrombin. The glucosamine residue linked to C-4 of this glucuronosyl unit was predominantly (or exclusively) N-sulphated rather than N-acetylated, pointing to a structural difference between the antithrombin-binding region of rat heparin and that of pig mucosal heparin. Calculations based on the distribution of the glucosaminyl 3-O-sulphate group showed that approximately two-thirds of the total antithrombin-binding regions present in the unfractionated material were accommodated by only 20% of the proteoglycan molecules, and by 10% of the polysaccharide chains. While most of the proteoglycan molecules thus lacked such regions (and hence affinity for antithrombin) a minor proportion of the polysaccharide chains contained on the average three binding regions per molecule. These findings support by direct chemical analysis an earlier proposal, based on anticoagulant activities of similar rat skin heparin fractions, that the distribution of antithrombin-binding sites in intact heparin proteoglycans is markedly non-random.     

Extension and structural variability of the antithrombin-binding sequence in heparin

Oligosaccharides with different affinities for antithrombin were isolated following partial deaminative cleavage of pig mucosal heparin with nitrous acid. The smallest high-affinity component obtained was previously identified as an octasaccharide with the predominant structure: (Formula: see text). The interaction of this octasaccharide, and of deca- and dodecasaccharides containing the same octasaccharide sequence, with antithrombin was studied by spectroscopic techniques. The near-ultraviolet difference spectra, circular dichroism spectra, and fluorescence enhancements induced by adding these oligosaccharides to antithrombin differed only slightly from the corresponding parameters measured in the presence of undegraded high-affinity heparin. Moreover, the binding constants obtained for the oligosaccharides and for high-affinity heparin were similar (1.0-2.9 X 10(7) M-1 at I = 0.3). In contrast, two hexasaccharides corresponding to units 1-6 and 3-8, respectively, of the above sequence showed about a 1000-fold lower affinity for antithrombin, and also induced considerably different spectral perturbations in antithrombin. Since the 1-6 hexasaccharide contains a reducing-terminal anhydromannose residue instead of the N-sulfated glucosamine unit 6 of the intact sequence, these results strongly support our previous conclusion that the N-sulfate group at position 6 is essential to the interaction with antithrombin. The low affinity of the hexasaccharide 3-8 provides further evidence that a pentasaccharide sequence 2-6 constitutes the actual antithrombin-binding region in the heparin molecule. Structural analysis of the various oligosaccharides revealed natural variants with an N-sulfate group substituted for the N-acetyl group at position 2. The preponderance of N-acetyl over N-sulfate groups at this position may be rationalized in terms of the mechanism of heparin biosynthesis, assuming that the D-gluco configuration of unit 3 is an essential feature of the antithrombin-binding region.     

Stimulation of the biosynthesis of membrane glycoproteins from Zajdela ascites hepatoma cells by Robinia lectin.

Membrane glycoprotein biosynthesis of ascites hepatoma cells is followed by [14C]glucosamine and [3H]leucine incorporation into cells in culture. The rate of incorporation is strongly increased by the addition of Robinia lectin in culture medium. Labeled glycoproteins are released from lectin stimulated and non-stimulated cells by trypsin digestion. Studies of labeled trypsinates on sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis and Sephadex G-200 filtration exhibit two fractions both labeled with [14C]glucosamine and [3H]leucine and having different molecular weights, one over 200000 and the other about 2000. Identical results are obtained when external membrane glycoproteins are solubilized by sodium deoxycholate. Comparison of surface glycoproteins isolated by trypsinization from control cells labeled with [3H]-glucosamine and from lectin stimulated cells labeled with [14C]glucosamine displays no significant qualitative differences between glycoprotein fractions released from both cell groups.     

Biosynthesis of heparin. Relationship between the polymerization and sulphation processes.

Incubation of a mouse mastocytoma microsomal fraction with UDP-[3H]GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc yielded proteoglycans containing non-sulphated polysaccharide chains. Similar incubations performed in the presence of sulphate donor 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulphate (PAPS) produced both sulphated and non-sulphated proteoglycans, which were separated by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose Analysis by gel chromatography of single polysaccharide chains, released from the proteoglycans by alkali treatment, showed that the non-sulphated chains produced during incubation for 5 min or 25 min, either in the absence or in the presence of PAPS, were of fairly small molecular size, with an average peak Mr of approx. 10 x 10(3)-15 x 10(3). In contrast, the sulphated chains exceeded Mr 100 x 10(3) Pulse-chase experiments suggested that sulphated chains were capable of further elongation. These results indicate that sulphation promotes, by so far unknown mechanisms, further chain elongation. Sulphated proteoglycan (retarded on DEAE-cellulose chromatography) isolated after similar incubation of the microsomal fraction for 1 min only was found to contain a mixture of sulphated and virtually non-sulphated polysaccharide chains. However, when [35S]PAPS was included in the incubations, some 35S was found to be associated, essentially as N-sulphate groups, also with the latter type of chains, preferentially the high-Mr fraction. These results are interpreted in terms of a biosynthetic model by which the heparin proteoglycan is generated through transient interactions of macromolecular intermediates with distinctly separate complexes of membranebound enzymes.     

Basement-membrane heparan sulphate with high affinity for antithrombin synthesized by normal and transformed mouse mammary epithelial cells.

Basement-membrane proteoglycans, biosynthetically labelled with [35S]sulphate, were isolated from normal and transformed mouse mammary epithelial cells. Proteoglycans synthesized by normal cells contained mainly heparan sulphate and, in addition, small amounts of chondroitin sulphate chains, whereas transformed cells synthesized a relatively higher proportion of chondroitin sulphate. Polysaccharide chains from transformed cells were of lower average Mr and of lower anionic charge density compared with chains isolated from the untransformed counterparts, confirming results reported previously [David & Van den Berghe (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 7338-7344]. A large proportion of the chains isolated from normal cells bound with high affinity to immobilized antithrombin, and the presence of 3-O-sulphated glucosamine residues, previously identified as unique markers for the antithrombin-binding region of heparin [Lindahl, Bäckström, Thunberg & Leder (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 6551-6555], could be demonstrated. A significantly lower proportion of the chains derived from transformed cells bound with high affinity to antithrombin, and a corresponding decrease in the amount of incorporated 3-O-sulphate was observed.     

Biosynthesis of heparin

The formation of labeled heparin-precursor polysaccharide (N-acetylheparosan) from the nucleotide sugars, UDP-[¹⁴C]glucuronic acid and UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, in a mouse mastocytoma microsomal fraction was abolished by the addition of 1% Triton X-100. In contrast, the detergent-treated microsomal preparation retained the ability to convert such preformed polysaccharide into sulfated products during incubation with 3-phosphoadenylylsulfate (PAPS). However, as shown by ion-exchange chromatography of these products, the detegent treatment changed the kinetics of sulfation from the rapid, repetivive process characteristic of the unperturbed system to a slow, progressive sulfation, which involved all polysarccharide molecules simultaneously and yielded, ultimately, a more highly sulfated product. The detergent effect was attributed to solubilization of sulfotransferases from the microsomal membranes, along with other polymer-modifying enzymes and the polysaccharide substrate. The resulting product showed an apparently random distribution ofN-acetyl andN-sulfate groups, instead of the predominantly block-wise arrangement achieved through membrane-associated biosynthesis.O-Sulfation occurred mainly at C2 of the iduronic acid units in the membrane-bound polysaccharide but at C6 of the glucosamine residues in the presence of detergent.A capsular polysaccharide fromEscherichia coli K5, previously found to have a structure identical to that of the nonsulfated heparin-precursor polysaccharide, was sulfated in the solubilized system in a fashion similar to that of the endogenous substrate, but was not accessible to the membrane-bound enzymes.These findings suggest that the regulation of the polymer-modification process, and hence the structure of the final polysaccharide product, depends heavily on the organization of the enzymes and their proteoglycan substrate in the endoplasmic membranes of the cell.Abbreviations PAPS 3-phosphoadenylylsulfate - Hepes 4-(2-hydroxy-ethyl)piperazineethanesulfonic acid - GlcUA glucuronic acid This is Paper XIV of a series in which the preceeding reports are refs 10 and 12. A preliminary report has appeared [28].     

Stimulation of the biosynthesis of membrane glycoproteins from zajdela ascites hepatoma cells by Robinia lectin

Membrane glycoprotein biosynthesis of ascites hepatoma cells is followed by [¹⁴C]glucosamine and [³H]leucine incorporation into cells in culture. The rate of incorporation is strongly increased by the addition of Robinia lectin in culture medium. Labeled glycoproteins are released from lectin stimulated and non-stimulated ceils by trypsin digestion. Studies of labeled trypsinates on sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis and Sephadex G-200 filtration exhibit two fractions both labeled with [¹⁴C]glucosamine and [³H]leucine and having different molecular weights, one over 200 000 and the other about 2000. Identical results are obtained when external membrane glycoproteins are solubilized by sodium deoxycholate. Comparison of surface glycoproteins isolated by trypsinization from control cells labeled with [³H]glucosamine and from lectin stimulated cells labeled with [¹⁴C]glucosamine displays no significant qualitative differences between glycoprotein fractions released from both cell groups.     

Glycosaminoglycan synthesis in mouse mastocytoma

The glycosaminoglycan synthesis in Furth solid mastocytoma tissue has been studied. Approx. 10% of the polysaccharide isolated after incubation in vitro with [(14)C]-glucosamine was digestible with chondroitinase ABC and the product of digestion was identified as 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(beta-d-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-4-O-sulpho-d-galactose. Similarly, labelling of polysaccharide in vivo with (35)SO(4) (2-) followed by isolation of mast-cell fractions by density-gradient centrifugation on colloidal silica revealed the presence of a polysaccharide which migrated as did chondroitin sulphate on electrophoresis in barium acetate. Chondroitinase ABC produced the same digestion product as before. Finally, the presence of the UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine-chondroitin 6-sulphate hexasaccharide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase previously implicated in chondroitin sulphate biosynthesis was demonstrated in microsomal particles from fractions of purified mast cells.     

Biosynthesis of heparin. Modulation of polysaccharide chain length in a cell-free system.

The formation of heparin-precursor polysaccharide (N-acetylheparosan) was studied with a mouse mastocytoma microsomal fraction. Incubation of this fraction with UDP-[3H]GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc yielded labelled macromolecules that could be depolymerized, apparently to single polysaccharide chains, by alkali treatment, and thus were assumed to be proteoglycans. Label from UDP-[3H]GlcA (approx. 3 microM) is transiently incorporated into microsomal polysaccharide even in the absence of added UDP-GlcNAc, probably owing to the presence of endogenous sugar nucleotide. When the concentration of exogenous UDP-GlcNAc was increased to 25 microM the rate of incorporation of 3H increased and proteoglycans carrying polysaccharide chains with an Mr of approx. 110,000 were produced. Increasing the UDP-GlcNAc concentration to 5 mM led to an approx. 4-fold decrease in the rate of 3H incorporation and a decrease in the Mr of the resulting polysaccharide chains to approx. 6000 (predominant component). When both UDP-GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc were present at high concentrations (5 mM) the rate of polymerization and the polysaccharide chain size were again increased. The results suggest that the inhibition of polymerization observed at grossly different concentrations of the two sugar nucleotides, UDP-GlcA and UDP-GlcNAc, may be due either to interference with the transport of one of these precursors across the Golgi membrane or to competitive inhibition of one of the glycosyltransferases. The maximal rate of chain elongation obtained, under the conditions employed, was about 40 disaccharide units/min. The final length of the polysaccharide chains was directly related to the rate of the polymerization reaction.     

Glycosaminoglycans of some mouse mastocytomas

The glycosaminoglycan fractions of four murine mastocytomas (AB-CBF1-MCT-1, AB-CXBG-MCT-1, AB-CXBI-MCT-1, and Furth), were isolated and characterized using microelectrophoresis, degradation with specific mucopolysaccharidases, paper chromatography and, in some instances, ion-exchange chromatography. Intramuscular and ascites tumors and tumors cultured in vitro were used. The glycosaminoglycans were labeled with [35S]sulfate and , in a few instances, with D-[6-3H]glucosamine. The glycosaminoglycan fraction obtained from the AB-CBF1-MCT-1 mastocytoma cultured in vitro consisted predominantly of dermatan sulfate-like material. On the other hand, the major components of the glycosaminoglycan fractions of the AB-CXBG-MCT-1 and AB-CXBI-MCT-1 and Furth tumors were observed to behave like heparin or heparan sulfate. In most of the mastocytoma samples examined, chondroitin 4-sulfate-like components were found to be present in smaller amounts, even in samples derived from tumor cells cultured in vitro. A component exhibiting a keratan sulfate-like behavior was detected in fractions obtained from the solid CXBG, CXBI and Furth tumors.     

4-Deoxy-4-fluoro-D-mannose inhibits the glycosylation of the G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus

The effect of 4-deoxy-4-fluoro-D-mannose (4F-Man), a synthetic analog of D-mannose, on the synthesis of the glycoprotein (G) of vesicular stomatitis virus was examined. Nearly confluent monolayers of cultured BHK21 cells infected with vesicular stomatitis virus were incubated for 2 h with 4F-Man (0-10 mM) or for 1 h with tunicamycin (2 micrograms/ml) and then pulse-labeled with [35S]methionine or [3H]glucosamine. After a 90-min chase period, the cells were lysed and the viral proteins were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorography. The 35S-labeled G protein from cells exposed to greater than or equal to 1 mM 4F-Man migrated more rapidly than G protein isolated from control cells and with the same electrophoretic mobility as the glycoprotein produced by cells treated with tunicamycin. When infected cells were labeled with [3H]glucosamine, little or no radioactivity was associated with G protein synthesized in the presence of greater than or equal to 1 mM 4F-Man. The conclusion that 4F-Man blocks the glycosylation of the G protein was supported by experiments which demonstrated that the fluorosugar inhibits the synthesis of lipid-linked oligosaccharides.