Substrate specificity of the sialic acid biosynthetic pathway.

Unnatural analogues of sialic acid can be delivered to mammalian cell surfaces through the metabolic transformation of unnatural N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) derivatives. In previous studies, mannosamine analogues bearing simple N-acyl groups up to five carbon atoms in length were recognized as substrates by the biosynthetic machinery and transformed into cell surface sialoglycoconjugates [Keppler, O. T., et al. (2001) Glycobiology 11, 11R-18R]. Such structural alterations to cell surface glycans can be used to probe carbohydrate-dependent phenomena. This report describes our investigation into the extent of tolerance of the pathway toward additional structural alterations of the N-acyl substituent of ManNAc. A panel of analogues with ketone-containing N-acyl groups that varied in the length or steric bulk was chemically synthesized and tested for metabolic conversion to cell surface glycans. We found that extension of the N-acyl chain to six, seven, or eight carbon atoms dramatically reduced utilization by the biosynthetic machinery. Likewise, branching from the linear chain reduced metabolic conversion. Quantitation of metabolic intermediates suggested that cellular metabolism is limited by the phosphorylation of the N-acylmannosamines by ManNAc 6-kinase in the first step of the pathway. This was confirmed by enzymatic assay of the partially purified enzyme with unnatural substrates. Identification of ManNAc 6-kinase as a bottleneck for unnatural sialic acid biosynthesis provides a target for expanding the metabolic promiscuity of mammalian cells.     

Characterization of the cellular uptake and metabolic conversion of acetylated N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) analogues to sialic acids

"Sialic acid engineering" refers to the strategy where cell surface carbohydrates are modified by the biosynthetic incorporation of metabolic intermediates, such as non-natural N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) analogues, into cellular glycoconjugates. While this technology has promising research, biomedical, and biotechnological applications due to its ability to endow the cell surface with novel physical and chemical properties, its adoption on a large scale is hindered by the inefficient metabolic utilization of ManNAc analogues. We address this limitation by proposing the use of acetylated ManNAc analogues for sialic acid engineering applications. In this paper, the metabolic flux of these "second-generation" compounds into a cell, and, subsequently, into the target sialic acid biosynthetic pathway is characterized in detail. We show that acetylated ManNAc analogues are metabolized up to 900-fold more efficiently than their natural counterparts. The acetylated compounds, however, decrease cell viability under certain culture conditions. To determine if these toxic side effects can be avoided, we developed an assay to measure the cellular uptake of acetylated ManNAc from the culture medium and its subsequent flux into sialic acid biosynthetic pathway. This assay shows that the majority ( > 80%) of acetylated ManNAc is stored in a cellular "reservoir" capable of safely sequestering this analogue. These results provide conditions that, from a practical perspective, enable the acetylated analogues to be used safely and efficaciously and therefore offer a general strategy to facilitate metabolic substrate-based carbohydrate engineering efforts. In addition, these results provide fundamental new insights into the metabolic processing of non-natural monosaccharides.     

Synthesis of non-natural ManNAc analogs for the expression of thiols on cell-surface sialic acids

The sialic acid biosynthetic pathway in mammalian cells utilizes N-acetyl-D-mannosamine (ManNAc) as a natural metabolic precursor and has the remarkable ability to biosynthetically process non-natural ManNAc analogs. Herein, we describe a recipe-style protocol for the synthesis of the novel peracetylated analog Ac5ManNTGc (1) that contains a pendant acetylthio- group and enables incorporation of thiol functionalities into the glycocalyx of living cells. We also describe the synthesis of the oxygen analog Ac5ManNGc (2), which serves as an appropriate control compound for biological experiments with 1. Both 1 and 2 were prepared from a reported, common intermediate 8, which is selectively acetylated at the hydroxyl groups. In contrast to previous methods, this synthetic approach introduces O-acetyl groups first, followed by N-acylation. Starting from the commercially available D-mannosamine hydrochloride (5), gram quantities of both 1 and 2 can be prepared over five steps in about 2-3 weeks.     

GlcNAc 2-epimerase can serve a catabolic role in sialic acid metabolism

Sialic acid is a major determinant of carbohydrate-receptor interactions in many systems pertinent to human health and disease. N-Acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) is the first committed intermediate in the sialic acid biosynthetic pathway; thus, the mechanisms that control intracellular ManNAc levels are important regulators of sialic acid production. UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase and GlcNAc 2-epimerase are two enzymes capable of generating ManNAc from UDP-GlcNAc and GlcNAc, respectively. Whereas the former enzyme has been shown to direct metabolic flux toward sialic acid in vivo, the function of the latter enzyme is unclear. Here we study the effects of GlcNAc 2-epimerase expression on sialic acid production in cells. A key tool we developed for this study is a cell-permeable, small molecule inhibitor of GlcNAc 2-epimerase designed based on mechanistic principles. Our results indicate that, unlike UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase, which promotes biosynthesis of sialic acid, GlcNAc 2-epimerase can serve a catabolic role, diverting metabolic flux away from the sialic acid pathway.     

Engineering sialic acid synthetic ability into insect cells: identifying metabolic bottlenecks and devising strategies to overcome them

Previous studies have indicated negligible levels of both sialylation and the precursor N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) in a number of insect cell lines grown in serum-free medium. The overexpression of the human sialic acid 9-phosphate synthase (SAS) in combination with N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) feeding has been shown to overcome this limitation. In this study we evaluated the potential bottlenecks in the sialic acid synthesis pathway in a Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cell line and devised strategies to overcome them by overexpression of the enzymatic pathway enzymes combined with appropriate substrate feeding. Coexpression of SAS and UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/ManNAc kinase, the bifunctional enzyme initiating sialic acid biosynthesis in mammals, resulted in Neu5Ac synthesis without use of any external media supplementation to demonstrate that Neu5Ac could be generated intracellularly in Sf9 cells using natural metabolic precursors. N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) feeding in combination with this coexpression resulted in much higher levels of Neu5Ac compared to levels obtained with ManNAc feeding with SAS expression alone. The lower Neu5Ac levels obtained with ManNAc feeding suggested limitations in the transport and phosphorylation of ManNAc. The bottleneck in phosphorylation was likely due to utilization of GlcNAc kinase for phosphorylation of ManNAc in insect cells and was overcome by expression of ManNAc kinase. The transport limitation was addressed by the addition of tetra-O-acetylated ManNAc, which is easily taken up by the cells. An alternative sialic acid, 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galacto-nononic acid (KDN), could also be generated in insect cells, suggesting the potential for controlling not only the production of sialic acids but also the type of sialic acid generated. The levels of KDN could be increased with virtually no Neu5Ac generation when Sf9 cells were fed excess GlcNAc. The results of these studies may be used to enhance the sialylation of target glycoproteins in insect and other eukaryotic expression systems.     

Characterization of ligand binding to the bifunctional key enzyme in the sialic acid biosynthesis by NMR: II. Investigation of the ManNAc kinase functionality

N-Acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) is the physiological precursors to all sialic acids that occur in nature. As variations in the sialic acid decoration of cell surfaces can profoundly affect cell-cell, pathogen-cell, or drug-cell interactions, the enzymes that convert ManNAc into sialic acid are attractive targets for the development of drugs that specifically interrupt sialic acid biosynthesis or lead to modified sialic acids on the surface of cells. The first step in the enzymatic conversion of ManNAc into sialic acid is phosphorylation, yielding N-acetylmannosamine-6-phosphate. The enzyme that catalyzes this conversion is the N-acetylmannosamine kinase (ManNAc kinase) as part of the bifunctional enzyme UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase. Here, we employed saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR experiments to study the binding of ManNAc and related ligands to the ManNAc kinase. It is shown that the configuration of C1 and C4 of ManNAc is crucial for binding to the enzyme, whereas the C2 position not only accepts variations in the attached N-acyl side chain but also tolerates inversion of configuration. Our experiments also show that ManNAc kinase maintains its functionality, even in the absence of Mg(2+). From the analysis of the STD NMR-derived binding epitopes, it is concluded that the binding mode of the N-acylmannosamines critically depends on the N-acyl side chain. In conjunction with the relative binding affinities of the ligands obtained from STD NMR titrations, it is possible to derive a structure-binding affinity relationship. This provides a cornerstone for the rational design of drugs for novel therapeutic applications by altering the sialic acid decorations of cell walls.     

Metabolic expression of thiol-derivatized sialic acids on the cell surface and their quantitative estimation by flow cytometry

The N-acetyl-D-mannosamine (ManNAc) analog Ac5ManNTGc, a non-natural metabolic precursor for the sialic acid biosynthetic pathway, can be used to display thiols on the cell surface. Sugar-expressed cell-surface thiols are readily accessible compared to their protein counterparts, making them ideal for exploitation in cell-adhesion and tissue-engineering applications. This report describes a protocol for the incubation of Jurkat (human acute T-cell leukemia) cells with Ac5ManNTGc and the quantitative estimation of the resulting sialic acid displayed thiols by flow cytometry after a reaction with a water-soluble biotin-conjugated maleimide reagent and fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated (FITC) avidin staining. These methods, with minimal optimization, are generally also applicable to other human cell lines. The labeling and flow cytometry steps of this protocol can be performed in five to eight hours.     

Biochemical engineering of the N-acyl side chain of sialic acid: biological implications

N-Acetylneuraminic acid is the most prominent sialic acid in eukaryotes. The structural diversity of sialic acid is exploited by viruses, bacteria, and toxins and by the sialoglycoproteins and sialoglycolipids involved in cell-cell recognition in their highly specific recognition and binding to cellular receptors. The physiological precursor of all sialic acids is N-acetyl D-mannosamine (ManNAc). By recent findings it could be shown that synthetic N-acyl-modified D-mannosamines can be taken up by cells and efficiently metabolized to the respective N-acyl-modified neuraminic acids in vitro and in vivo. Successfully employed D-mannosamines with modified N-acyl side chains include N-propanoyl- (ManNProp), N-butanoyl- (ManNBut)-, N-pentanoyl- (ManNPent), N-hexanoyl- (ManNHex), N-crotonoyl- (ManNCrot), N-levulinoyl- (ManNLev), N-glycolyl- (ManNGc), and N-azidoacetyl D-mannosamine (ManNAc-azido). All of these compounds are metabolized by the promiscuous sialic acid biosynthetic pathway and are incorporated into cell surface sialoglycoconjugates replacing in a cell type-specific manner 10-85% of normal sialic acids. Application of these compounds to different biological systems has revealed important and unexpected functions of the N-acyl side chain of sialic acids, including its crucial role for the interaction of different viruses with their sialylated host cell receptors. Also, treatment with ManNProp, which contains only one additional methylene group compared to the physiological precursor ManNAc, induced proliferation of astrocytes, microglia, and peripheral T-lymphocytes. Unique, chemically reactive ketone and azido groups can be introduced biosynthetically into cell surface sialoglycans using N-acyl-modified sialic acid precursors, a process offering a variety of applications including the generation of artificial cellular receptors for viral gene delivery. This group of novel sialic acid precursors enabled studies on sialic acid modifications on the surface of living cells and has improved our understanding of carbohydrate receptors in their native environment. The biochemical engineering of the side chain of sialic acid offers new tools to study its biological relevance and to exploit it as a tag for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.     

Modified GM3 gangliosides produced by metabolic oligosaccharide engineering

Metabolic oligosaccharide engineering is powerful approach to altering the structure of cellular sialosides. This method relies on culturing cells with N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) analogs that are metabolized to their sialic acid counterparts and added to glycoproteins and glycolipids. Here we employed two cell lines that are deficient in ManNAc biosynthesis and examined their relative abilities to metabolize a panel of ManNAc analogs to sialosides. In addition to measuring global sialoside production, we also examined biosynthesis of the sialic acid-containing glycolipid, GM3. We discovered that the two cell lines differ in their ability to discriminate among the variant forms of ManNAc. Further, our data suggest that modified forms of sialic acid may be preferentially incorporated into certain sialosides and excluded from others. Taken together, our results demonstrate that global analysis of sialoside production can obscure sialoside-specific differences. These findings have implications for downstream applications of metabolic oligosaccharide engineering, including imaging and proteomics.     

Establishment of N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) analogue-resistant cell lines as improved hosts for sialic acid engineering applications

Metabolic substrate-based sialic acid engineering techniques, where exogenously supplied N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) analogues are utilized by the sialic acid biosynthetic pathway, allow the cell surface to be endowed with novel physical and chemical properties and show promise for increasing the quality of recombinant glycoproteins. The in vitro toxicity of many ManNAc analogues, however, hinders the large-scale adoption of this technology. In this study, we used a selection strategy where cells were subjected to progressively higher levels of ManNAc analogues to establish novel cell lines that showed decreased sensitivity to analogue-induced in vitro toxicity. The decreased sensitivity to sugar analogue-induced apoptosis, demonstrated by the Annexin V-FITC detection method and DNA fragmentation assays, corresponded to increased sialic acid production in the resistant cell lines. The ManNAc analogue-resistant cell lines exhibited cross-resistance to apoptosis induced by staurosporine and an apoptosis-activating Fas antibody. We propose that the selection strategy employed to develop these novel cell lines, which serve as superior hosts for substrate-based sialic acid engineering applications, will generally apply to the development of host cell lines for biotechnology applications.     

Roles for UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/ManNAc 6-kinase outside of sialic acid biosynthesis: modulation of sialyltransferase and BiP expression, GM3 and GD3 biosynthesis, proliferation, and apoptosis, and ERK1/2 phosphorylation

Roles for UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/ManNAc 6-kinase (GNE) beyond controlling flux into the sialic acid biosynthetic pathway by converting UDP-GlcNAc to N-acetylmannosamine are described in this report. Overexpression of recombinant GNE in human embryonic kidney (HEK AD293) cells led to an increase in mRNA levels for ST3Gal5 (GM3 synthase) and ST8Sia1 (GD3 synthase) as well as the biosynthetic products of these sialyltransferases, the GM3 and GD3 gangliosides. Conversely, down-regulation of GNE by RNA interference methods had the opposite, but consistent, effect of lowering ST3Gal5 and ST8Sia1 mRNAs and reducing GM3 and GD3 levels. Control experiments ensured that GNE-mediated changes in sialyltransferase expression and ganglioside biosynthesis were not the result of altered flux through the sialic acid pathway. Interestingly, exogenous GM3 and GD3 also changed the expression of GNE and led to reduced ST3Gal5 and ST8Sia1 mRNA levels, demonstrating a reciprocating feedback mechanism where gangliosides regulate upstream biosynthetic enzymes. Cellular responses to the GNE-mediated changes in ST3Gal5 and ST8Sia1 expression and GM3 and GD3 levels were investigated next. Conditions that led to reduced ganglioside production (e.g. short hairpin RNA exposure) stimulated proliferation, whereas conditions that resulted in increased ganglioside levels (e.g. recombinant GNE and exogenous gangliosides) led to reduced proliferation with a concomitant increase in apoptosis. Finally, changes to BiP expression and ERK1/2 phosphorylation consistent with apoptosis and proliferation, respectively, were observed. These results provide examples of specific biochemical pathways, other than sialic acid metabolism, that are influenced by GNE.     

Extracellular and intracellular esterase processing of SCFA–hexosamine analogs: Implications for metabolic glycoengineering and drug delivery

This report provides a synopsis of the esterase processing of short chain fatty acid (SCFA)-derivatized hexosamine analogs used in metabolic glycoengineering by demonstrating that the extracellular hydrolysis of these compounds is comparatively slow (e.g., with a t_1/2 of ～4 h to several days) in normal cell culture as well as in high serum concentrations intended to mimic in vivo conditions. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) analysis of common sugar analogs revealed that O-acetylated and N-azido ManNAc derivatives were more refractory against extracellular inactivation by FBS than their butanoylated counterparts consistent with in silico docking simulations of Ac₄ManNAc and Bu₄ManNAc to human carboxylesterase 1 (hCE1). By contrast, all analogs tested supported increased intracellular sialic acid production within 2 h establishing that esterase processing once the analogs are taken up by cells is not rate limiting.     

Engineering intracellular CMP-sialic acid metabolism into insect cells and methods to enhance its generation

Previous studies have reported that insect cell lines lack the capacity to generate endogenously the nucleotide sugar, CMP-Neu5Ac, required for sialylation of glycoconjugates. In this study, the biosynthesis of this activated form of sialic acid completely from endogenous metabolites is demonstrated for the first time in insect cells by expressing the mammalian genes required for the multistep conversion of endogenous UDP-GlcNAc to CMP-Neu5Ac. The genes for UDP-GlcNAc-2-epimerase/ManNAc kinase (EK), sialic acid 9-phosphate synthase (SAS), and CMP-sialic acid synthetase (CSAS) were coexpressed in insect cells using baculovirus expression vectors, but the CMP-Neu5Ac and precursor Neu5Ac levels synthesized were found to be lower than those achieved with ManNAc supplementation due to feedback inhibition of the EK enzyme by CMP-Neu5Ac. When sialuria-like mutant EK genes, in which the site for feedback regulation has been mutated, were used, CMP-Neu5Ac was synthesized at levels more than 4 times higher than that achieved with the wild-type EK and 2.5 times higher than that achieved with ManNAc feeding. Addition of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), a precursor for UDP-GlcNAc, to the media increased the levels of CMP-Neu5Ac even more to a level 7.5 times higher than that achieved with ManNAc supplementation, creating a bottleneck in the conversion of Neu5Ac to CMP-Neu5Ac at higher levels of UDP-GlcNAc. The present study provides a useful biochemical strategy to synthesize and enhance the levels of the sialylation donor molecule, CMP-Neu5Ac, a critical limiting substrate for the generation of complex glycoproteins in insect cells and other cell culture systems.     

The first committed step in the biosynthesis of sialic acid by Escherichia coli K1 does not involve a phosphorylated N-acetylmannosamine intermediate

A variety of pathogens or commensals use at least one of four distinct mechanisms for decorating their surfaces with sialic acid as a strategy to avoid, subvert or inhibit host innate immunity. The metabolism of sialic acid thus is central to a range of host-pathogen interactions. The first committed step in this process, the production of free N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc), has not been defined. Here we show that ManNAc-6-phosphate (ManNAc-6-P) is not an obligate sialate precursor in Escherichia coli K1. This conclusion was supported by 31P NMR spectroscopy of E. coli K1 derivatives engineered with different combinations of mutations in nanA (sialate aldolase or lyase), nanK (ManNAc kinase), nanE (ManNAc-6-P 2-epimerase), neuS (polysialyltransferase) and neuB (sialate synthase). The product specificities for purified NanK and NanE were determined by chromatographic analyses. Direct biochemical analysis showed that ManNAc-6-P was stable in a nanE mutant extract. The combined results indicate that neither ManNAc-6-P nor specific or non-specific phosphatase are necessary to generate the requisite ManNAc for sialate biosynthesis. Our results imply that the neuC gene product encodes an UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase that generates ManNAc directly from the dinucleotide-sugar precursor despite detection of only this enzyme's UDP-GlcNAc hydrolase activity. This study describes the first use of NMR for analysing intermediate flux within the sialate biosynthetic pathway.     

Purification and characterization of GlcNAc-6-P 2-epimerase from Escherichia coli K92

N-Acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) is the first committed intermediate in sialic acid metabolism. Thus, the mechanisms that control intracellular ManNAc levels are important regulators of sialic acid production. In prokaryotic organisms, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) 2-epimerase and GlcNAc-6-P 2-epimerase are two enzymes capable of generating ManNAc from UDP-GlcNAc and GlcNAc-6-P, respectively. We have purified for the first time native GlcNAc-6-P 2-epimerase from bacterial source to apparent homogeneity (1 200 fold) using Butyl-agarose, DEAE-FPLC and Mannose-6-P-agarose chromatography. By SDS/PAGE the pure enzyme showed a molecular mass of 38.4 +/- 0.2 kDa. The maximum activity was achieved at pH 7.8 and 37 degrees C. Under these conditions, the K(m) calculated for GlcNAc-6-P was 1.5 mM. The 2-epimerase activity was activated by Na(+) and inhibited by mannose-6-P but not mannose-1-P. Genetic analysis revealed high homology with bacterial isomerases. GlcNAc-6-P 2-epimerase from E. coli K92 is a ManNAc-inducible protein and is detected from the early logarithmic phase of growth. Our results indicate that, unlike UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase, which promotes the biosynthesis of sialic acid, GlcNAc-6-P 2-epimerase plays a catabolic role. When E. coli grows using ManNAc as a carbon source, this enzyme converts the intracellular ManNAc-6-P generated into GlcNAc-6-P, diverting the metabolic flux of ManNAc to GlcNAc.     

Metabolic oligosaccharide engineering with N-Acyl functionalized ManNAc analogs: cytotoxicity, metabolic flux, and glycan-display considerations

Metabolic oligosaccharide engineering (MOE) is a maturing technology capable of modifying cell surface sugars in living cells and animals through the biosynthetic installation of non‐natural monosaccharides into the glycocalyx. A particularly robust area of investigation involves the incorporation of azide functional groups onto the cell surface, which can then be further derivatized using “click chemistry.” While considerable effort has gone into optimizing the reagents used for the azide ligation reactions, less optimization of the monosaccharide analogs used in the preceding metabolic incorporation steps has been done. This study fills this void by reporting novel butanoylated ManNAc analogs that are used by cells with greater efficiency and less cytotoxicity than the current “gold standard,” which are peracetylated compounds such as Ac₄ManNAz. In particular, tributanoylated, N‐acetyl, N‐azido, and N‐levulinoyl ManNAc analogs with the high flux 1,3,4‐O‐hydroxyl pattern of butanoylation were compared with their counterparts having the pro‐apoptotic 3,4,6‐O‐butanoylation pattern. The results reveal that the ketone‐bearing N‐levulinoyl analog 3,4,6‐O‐Bu₃ManNLev is highly apoptotic, and thus is a promising anti‐cancer drug candidate. By contrast, the azide‐bearing analog 1,3,4‐O‐Bu₃ManNAz effectively labeled cellular sialoglycans at concentrations ～3‐ to 5‐fold lower (e.g., at 12.5–25 µM) than Ac₄ManNAz (50–150 µM) and exhibited no indications of apoptosis even at concentrations up to 400 µM. In summary, this work extends emerging structure activity relationships that predict the effects of short chain fatty acid modified monosaccharides on mammalian cells and also provides a tangible advance in efforts to make MOE a practical technology for the medical and biotechnology communities. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109:992–1006. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Metabolism of diazirine-modified N-acetylmannosamine analogues to photo-cross-linking sialosides

Terminal sialic acid residues often mediate the interactions of cell surface glycoconjugates. Sialic acid-dependent interactions typically exhibit rapid dissociation rates, precluding the use of traditional biological techniques for complex isolation. To stabilize these transient interactions, we employ a targeted photo-cross-linking approach in which a diazirine photo-cross-linker is incorporated into cell surface sialylated glycoconjugates through the use of metabolic oligosaccharide engineering. We describe three diazirine-modified N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) analogues in which the length of the linker between the pyranose ring and the diazirine was varied. These analogues were each metabolized to their respective sialic acid counterparts, which were added to both glycoproteins and glycolipids. Diazirine-modified sialic acid analogues could be incorporated into both α2-3 and α2-6 linkages. Upon exposure to UV irradiation, diazirine-modified glycoconjugates were covalently cross-linked to their interaction partners. We demonstrate that all three diazirine-modified analogues were capable of competing with endogeneous sialic acid, albeit to varying degrees. We found that larger analogues were less efficiently metabolized, yet could still function as effective cross-linkers. Notably, the addition of the diazirine substituent interferes with metabolism of ManNAc analogues to glycans other than sialosides, providing fidelity to selectively incorporate the cross-linker into sialylated molecules. These compounds are nontoxic and display only minimal growth inhibition at the concentrations required for cross-linking studies. This report provides essential information for the deployment of photo-cross-linking analogues to capture and study ephemeral, yet essential, sialic acid-mediated interactions.     

Genetic engineering of Escherichia coli for the economical production of sialylated oligosaccharides

We have previously described a microbiological process for the conversion of lactose into 3'sialyllactose and other ganglioside sugars by living Escherichia coli cells expressing the appropriate recombinant glycosyltransferase genes. In this system the activated sialic acid donor (CMP-Neu5Ac) was generated from exogenous sialic acid, which was transported into the cells by the permease NanT. Since sialic acid is an expensive compound, a more economical process has now been developed by genetically engineering E. coli K12 to be capable of generating CMP-Neu5Ac using its own internal metabolism. Mutant strains devoid of Neu5Ac aldolase and of ManNAc kinase were shown to efficiently produce 3'sialyllactose by coexpressing the alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase gene from Neisseria meningitidis with the neuC, neuB and neuACampylobacter jejuni genes encoding N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate-epimerase, sialic acid synthase and CMP-Neu5Ac synthetase, respectively. A sialyllactose concentration of 25 g l(-1) was obtained in long-term high cell density culture with a continuous lactose feed. This high concentration and low cost of fermentation medium should make possible to use sialylated oligosaccharides in new fields such as the food industry.     

Activity of N-acylneuraminate-9-phosphatase (NANP) is not essential for de novo sialic acid biosynthesis

BackgroundSialylation of glycoproteins and glycolipids is important for biological processes such as cellular communication, cell migration and protein function. Biosynthesis of CMP-sialic acid, the essential substrate, comprises five enzymatic steps, involving ManNAc and sialic acid and their phosphorylated forms as intermediates. Genetic diseases in this pathway result in different and tissue-restricted phenotypes, which is poorly understood.Methods and resultsWe aimed to study the mechanisms of sialic acid metabolism in knockouts (KO) of the sialic acid pathway in two independent cell lines. Sialylation of cell surface glycans was reduced by KO of GNE (UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase), NANS (sialic acid synthase) and CMAS (N-acylneuraminate cytidylyltransferase) genes, but was largely unaffected in NANP (N-acylneuraminate-9-phosphatase) KO, as studied by MAA and PNA lectin binding. NANP is the third enzyme in sialic acid biosynthesis and dephosphorylates sialic acid 9-phosphate to free sialic acid. LC-MS analysis of sialic acid metabolites showed that CMP-sialic acid was dramatically reduced in GNE and NANS KO cells and undetectable in CMAS KO. In agreement with normal cell surface sialylation, CMP-sialic acid levels in NANP KO were comparable to WT cells, even though sialic acid 9-phosphate, the substrate of NANP accumulated. Metabolic flux analysis with ¹³C₆-labelled ManNAc showed a lower, but significant conversion of ManNAc into sialic acid.ConclusionsOur data provide evidence that NANP activity is not essential for de novo sialic acid production and point towards an alternative phosphatase activity, bypassing NANP.General significanceThis report contributes to a better understanding of sialic acid biosynthesis in humans.