Riproximin is a recently discovered type II ribosome inactivating protein with potential for treating cancer

The development of new anticancer drugs is a salient problem and the traditional use of plants is a potentially rich source of information for detecting new molecules with antineoplastic activity. Riproximin is a recently detected cytotoxic type II ribosome inactivating protein with high selectivity for certain tumor cell lines. Its activity was recognized as the main component in a plant powder used by African healers for treating cancer. By ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase gene sequencing analysis, the powder was identified to be derived from the plant Ximenia americana. The cDNA sequence of riproximin was identified, the protein was modeled to contain one A- and a B-chain, respectively, and a reliable purification procedure from kernels of X. americana was established. Riproximin displays high but differential antiproliferative activity in a panel of human and rodent cancer cell lines, with concentrations inhibiting cell proliferation by 50% (IC₅₀ values) that diverge by a factor of 100. Consistent antineoplastic activity was detected in colorectal and pancreatic cancer liver metastasis models in rats. The cytotoxic mechanism of action was determined to be based on cellular uptake of riproximin followed by its A-chain prompted depurination of the 28S ribosomal RNA and induction of unfolded protein response. Riproximin's specificity depended on its B-chain connected binding to cell surface glycans, the presence of which is crucial for subsequent internalization into cells and cytotoxicity. These N- and O-glycans include bi- and tri-antennary NA structures (NA2/NA3) as well as Tn3 structures (clustered Tn antigen). Riproximin was found to crosslink proteins with N- and O-glycan structure, thus indicating both types of binding sites on its B chain. Due to this crosslinking ability, riproximin is expected to show prominent cytotoxicity towards cells expressing both, NA2/NA3 and clustered Tn structures. Apart from the properties of riproximin, the plant X. americana has been known for some medical uses in traditional African medicine, including various types of infections.     

Definitive evidence that a single N-glycan among three glycans on inducible costimulator is required for proper protein trafficking and ligand binding

Glycosylation is a widespread post-translational modification found in glycoproteins. Glycans play key roles in protein folding, quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and protein trafficking within cells. However, it remains unclear whether all positions of protein glycosylation are involved in glycan functions, or if specific positions have individual roles. Here we demonstrate the integral involvement of a specific N-glycan from amongst the three glycans present on inducible costimulator (ICOS), a T-cell costimulatory molecule, in proper protein folding and intracellular trafficking to the cell surface membrane. We found that glycosylation-defective mutant proteins lacking N-glycan at amino-acid position 89 (N89), but not proteins lacking either N23 or N110, were retained within the cell and were not detected on the cell surface membrane. Additional evidence suggested that N89 glycosylation was indirectly involved in ICOS ligand binding. These data suggest that amongst the three putative ICOS glycosylation sites, N89 is required for proper ICOS protein folding in the ER, intracellular trafficking and ligand binding activity. This study represents a substantial contribution to the current mechanistic understanding of the necessity and potential functions of a specific N-glycan among the multiple glycans of glycoproteins.     

Structural analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-/<Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>-glycans assembled on proteins in yeasts

Protein glycosylation, the most universal and diverse post-translational modification, can affect protein secretion, stability, and immunogenicity. The structures of glycans attached to proteins are quite diverse among different organisms and even within yeast species. In yeast, protein glycosylation plays key roles in the quality control of secretory proteins, and particularly in maintaining cell wall integrity. Moreover, in pathogenic yeasts, glycans assembled on cell-surface glycoproteins can mediate their interactions with host cells. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of protein glycosylation in various yeast species and defining glycan structure characteristics can provide useful information for their biotechnological and clinical implications. Yeast-specific glycans are a target for glyco-engineering; implementing human-type glycosylation pathways in yeast can aid the production of recombinant glycoproteins with therapeutic potential. The virulenceassociated glycans of pathogenic yeasts could be exploited as novel targets for antifungal agents. Nowadays, several glycomics techniques facilitate the generation of species-and strain-specific glycome profiles and the delineation of modified glycan structures in mutant and engineered yeast cells. Here, we present the protocols employed in our laboratory to investigate the N-and O-glycan chains released from purified glycoproteins or cell wall mannoproteins in several yeast species.     

The ammonia-catalyzed release of glycoprotein <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-glycans

Despite the great significance of release and analysis of glycans from glycoproteins, the existing N-glycan release methods are undermined by some limitations and deficiencies. The traditional enzymatic protocols feature high N-glycan release specificity but are generally costly and inefficient for some types of N-glycans. The existing chemical methods require harsh reaction conditions or are accompanied by the remarkable formation of by-products. Herein, we describe a versatile chemical method for the release and analysis of N-glycans from glycoproteins. This method differs from the existing methods as only aqueous ammonia is used to catalyze the N-glycan release reactions. Optimization of reaction conditions was performed using RNase B as a model glycoprotein and the obtained results indicated a highest N-glycan yield in ammonia at 60 °C for 16 h. Comparison of this method with traditional enzymatic protocols and recently reported NaClO methods confirmed the good reliability and efficiency of the novel approach. We also successfully applied this method to some complex biological samples, such as Ginkgo seed protein, fetal bovine serum (FBS) and hen egg white, and demonstrated its great compatibility with various neutral N-glycans, core α-1,3-fucosylated N-glycans and sialylated N-glycans. This method is very simple and cost-effective, enabling convenient analysis and large-scale preparation of released reducing N-glycans from various biological samples for structural and functional glycomics studies.     

A new insect cell line engineered to produce recombinant glycoproteins with cleavable N-glycans

Glycoproteins are difficult to crystallize because they have heterogeneous glycans composed of multiple monosaccharides with considerable rotational freedom about their O-glycosidic linkages. Crystallographers studying N-glycoproteins often circumvent this problem by using β1,2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (MGAT1)–deficient mammalian cell lines, which produce recombinant glycoproteins with immature N-glycans. These glycans support protein folding and quality control but can be removed using endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase H (Endo H). Many crystallographers also use the baculovirus-insect cell system (BICS) to produce recombinant proteins for their work but have no access to an MGAT1-deficient insect cell line to facilitate glycoprotein crystallization in this system. Thus, we used BICS-specific CRISPR–Cas9 vectors to edit the Mgat1 gene of a rhabdovirus-negative Spodoptera frugiperda cell line (Sf-RVN) and isolated a subclone with multiple Mgat1 deletions, which we named Sf-RVN^Lec1. We found that Sf-RVN and Sf-RVN^Lec1 cells had identical growth properties and served equally well as hosts for baculovirus-mediated recombinant glycoprotein production. N-glycan profiling showed that a total endogenous glycoprotein fraction isolated from Sf-RVN^Lec1 cells had only immature and high mannose-type N-glycans. Finally, N-glycan profiling and endoglycosidase analyses showed that the vast majority of the N-glycans on three recombinant glycoproteins produced by Sf-RVN^Lec1 cells were Endo H-cleavable Man₅GlcNAc₂ structures. Thus, this study yielded a new insect cell line for the BICS that can be used to produce recombinant glycoproteins with Endo H-cleavable N-glycans. This will enable researchers to combine the high productivity of the BICS with the ability to deglycosylate recombinant glycoproteins, which will facilitate efforts to determine glycoprotein structures by X-ray crystallography.     

Exploring the Unique N-Glycome of the Opportunistic Human Pathogen Acanthamoeba

Glycans play key roles in host-pathogen interactions; thus, knowing the N-glycomic repertoire of a pathogen can be helpful in deciphering its methods of establishing and sustaining a disease. Therefore, we sought to elucidate the glycomic potential of the facultative amoebal parasite Acanthamoeba. This is the first study of its asparagine-linked glycans, for which we applied biochemical tools and various approaches of mass spectrometry. An initial glycomic screen of eight strains from five genotypes of this human pathogen suggested, in addition to the common eukaryotic oligomannose structures, the presence of pentose and deoxyhexose residues on their N-glycans. A more detailed analysis was performed on the N-glycans of a genotype T11 strain (4RE); fractionation by HPLC and tandem mass spectrometric analyses indicated the presence of a novel mannosylfucosyl modification of the reducing terminal core as well as phosphorylation of mannose residues, methylation of hexose and various forms of pentosylation. The largest N-glycan in the 4RE strain contained two N-acetylhexosamine, thirteen hexose, one fucose, one methyl, and two pentose residues; however, in this and most other strains analyzed, glycans with compositions of Hex_8–9HexNAc₂Pnt_0–1 tended to dominate in terms of abundance. Although no correlation between pathogenicity and N-glycan structure can be proposed, highly unusual structures in this facultative parasite can be found which are potential virulence factors or therapeutic targets.     

Abolishment of N-glycan mannosylphosphorylation in glyco-engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae by double disruption of MNN4 and MNN14 genes

Mannosylphosphorylated glycans are found only in fungi, including yeast, and the elimination of mannosylphosphates from glycans is a prerequisite for yeast glyco-engineering to produce human-compatible glycoproteins. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, MNN4 and MNN6 genes are known to play roles in mannosylphosphorylation, but disruption of these genes does not completely remove the mannosylphosphates in N-glycans. This study was performed to find unknown key gene(s) involved in N-glycan mannosylphosphorylation in S. cerevisiae. For this purpose, each of one MNN4 and five MNN6 homologous genes were deleted from the och1Δmnn1Δmnn4Δmnn6Δ strain, which lacks yeast-specific hyper-mannosylation and the immunogenic α(1,3)-mannose structure. N-glycan profile analysis of cell wall mannoproteins and a secretory recombinant protein produced in mutants showed that the MNN14 gene, an MNN4 paralog with unknown function, is essential for N-glycan mannosylphosphorylation. Double disruption of MNN4 and MNN14 genes was enough to eliminate N-glycan mannosylphosphorylation. Our results suggest that the S. cerevisiae och1Δmnn1Δmnn4Δmnn14Δ strain, in which all yeast-specific N-glycan structures including mannosylphosphorylation are abolished, may have promise as a useful platform for glyco-engineering to produce therapeutic glycoproteins with human-compatible N-glycans.

     

Type and branched pattern of N-glycans and their structural effect on the chicken egg allergen ovotransferrin: a comparison with ovomucoid

Ovotransferrin (OT), a multifunctional glycoprotein with defensive and protective activities, accounts for approximately 13 % of chicken egg white proteins and is known as a major egg-associated allergen along with ovomucoid (OM). In contrast to the well-characterized N-glycans of OM, the N-glycan structure of OT has not been reported. Here, using HPLC equipped with a fluorescence detector and mass spectrometric analysis in combination with exoglycosidase digestion, we investigated the N-glycan type and branched pattern of OT, and compared them with those of OM. The HPLC peak area was used to calculate the relative quantity (%) of each glycan. Seventeen N-glycans, including 11 glycans (1 core structure and 10 complex-type oligosaccharides), that commonly exist in ovotransferrin and ovomucoid were identified. Six characteristic glycans (2 truncated structures, 1 complex-type, and 3 hybrid-type oligosaccharides) in OT and eight characteristic glycans in OM were classified. OT contains the following branched complex-type structures: mono-(13.2 %), bi-(23.9 %), tri-(9.0 %), tetra-(2.7 %), and penta-(2.8 %) antennary oligosaccharides. However, OM contained mostly tri-(33.5 %) and penta-(31.2 %) antennary oligosaccharides. The N-glycan–containing bisecting N-acetylglucosamine comprised 43.4 % and 79.8 % of the total glycans in OT and OM, respectively. Moreover, using circular dichroism analysis, we observed that the secondary structure of the deglycosylated OT is quite different from that of the intact protein. To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze N-glycans in OT in comparison with those of OM.     

Highly sensitive glycosylation analysis of membrane glycoproteins avoiding polymeric contaminants

We established a ‘seize-and-release’ purification method to eliminate polyhexose contaminants for a highly sensitive glycan profiling. Pig liver membrane lysates were pretreated with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant and subsequently dialyzed to remove polyhexose contaminants. From the purified membrane glycoproteins, glycans were released and identified by mass spectrometry. As a result, we clearly obtained N- and O-glycan profiles of a pig liver, which were not achieved without any pre-treatments. This technique demonstrates a powerful approach for enhancing the sensitivity of MS-based glycan profiling.     

Analysis of Site-specific Glycosylation of Renal and Hepatic γ-Glutamyl Transpeptidase from Normal Human Tissue

The cell surface glycoprotein γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) was isolated from healthy human kidney and liver to characterize its glycosylation in normal human tissue in vivo. GGT is expressed by a single cell type in the kidney. The spectrum of N-glycans released from kidney GGT constituted a subset of the N-glycans identified from renal membrane glycoproteins. Recent advances in mass spectrometry enabled us to identify the microheterogeneity and relative abundance of glycans on specific glycopeptides and revealed a broader spectrum of glycans than was observed among glycans enzymatically released from isolated GGT. A total of 36 glycan compositions, with 40 unique structures, were identified by site-specific glycan analysis. Up to 15 different glycans were observed at a single site, with site-specific variation in glycan composition. N-Glycans released from liver membrane glycoproteins included many glycans also identified in the kidney. However, analysis of hepatic GGT glycopeptides revealed 11 glycan compositions, with 12 unique structures, none of which were observed on kidney GGT. No variation in glycosylation was observed among multiple kidney and liver donors. Two glycosylation sites on renal GGT were modified exclusively by neutral glycans. In silico modeling of GGT predicts that these two glycans are located in clefts on the surface of the protein facing the cell membrane, and their synthesis may be subject to steric constraints. This is the first analysis at the level of individual glycopeptides of a human glycoprotein produced by two different tissues in vivo and provides novel insights into tissue-specific and site-specific glycosylation in normal human tissues.     

Glycomics Profiling of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell Glycosylation Mutants Reveals N-Glycans of a Novel Size and Complexity

Identifying biological roles for mammalian glycans and the pathways by which they are synthesized has been greatly facilitated by investigations of glycosylation mutants of cultured cell lines and model organisms. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) glycosylation mutants isolated on the basis of their lectin resistance have been particularly useful for glycosylation engineering of recombinant glycoproteins. To further enhance the application of these mutants, and to obtain insights into the effects of altering one specific glycosyltransferase or glycosylation activity on the overall expression of cellular glycans, an analysis of the N-glycans and major O-glycans of a panel of CHO mutants was performed using glycomic analyses anchored by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight/time of flight mass spectrometry. We report here the complement of the major N-glycans and O-glycans present in nine distinct CHO glycosylation mutants. Parent CHO cells grown in monolayer versus suspension culture had similar profiles of N- and O-GalNAc glycans, although the profiles of glycosylation mutants Lec1, Lec2, Lec3.2.8.1, Lec4, LEC10, LEC11, LEC12, Lec13, and LEC30 were consistent with available genetic and biochemical data. However, the complexity of the range of N-glycans observed was unexpected. Several of the complex N-glycan profiles contained structures of m/z ∼13,000 representing complex N-glycans with a total of 26 N-acetyllactosamine (Galβ1–4GlcNAc)_n units. Importantly, the LEC11, LEC12, and LEC30 CHO mutants exhibited unique complements of fucosylated complex N-glycans terminating in Lewis^x and sialyl-Lewis^x determinants. This analysis reveals the larger-than-expected complexity of N-glycans in CHO cell mutants that may be used in a broad variety of functional glycomics studies and for making recombinant glycoproteins.     

ABH blood group antigens in N-glycan of human glycophorin A

We previously showed that a small proportion of the O-linked oligosaccharide chains of human glycophorin A (GPA) contains blood group A, B or H antigens, relevant to the ABO phenotype of the donor. The structures of these minor O-glycans have been established (Podbielska et al. (2004) [20]). By the use of immunochemical methods we obtained results indicating that ABH blood group epitopes are also present in N-glycan of human GPA (Podbielska and Krotkiewski (2000) [22]). In the present paper we report a detailed analysis of GPA N-glycans using nanoflow electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. N-glycans containing A-, B- and H-related sequences were identified in GPA preparations obtained from erythrocytes of blood group A, B and O donors, respectively. The ABH blood group epitopes are present on one antenna of the N-glycan, whereas a known sialylated sequence NeuAcα2-6Galβ1-4GlcNAc- occurs on the other antenna and other details are in agreement with the known major structure of the GPA N-glycan. In the bulk of the biantennary sialylated N-glycans released from GPA preparations, the blood group ABH epitopes-containing N-glycans, similarly O-glycans, constituted only a minor part. The amount relative to other N-glycans was estimated to 2-6% of blood group H epitope-containing glycans released from GPA-O preparations and 1-2% of blood group A and B epitope-containing glycans, released from GPA-A and GPA-B, respectively.     

Recognition of Bisecting N-Acetylglucosamine: STRUCTURAL BASIS FOR ASYMMETRIC INTERACTION WITH THE MOUSE LECTIN DENDRITIC CELL INHIBITORY RECEPTOR 2*

Dendritic cell inhibitory receptor 2 (DCIR2) is a C-type lectin expressed on classical dendritic cells. We recently identified the unique ligand specificity of mouse DCIR2 (mDCIR2) toward biantennary complex-type glycans containing bisecting N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). Here, we report the crystal structures of the mDCIR2 carbohydrate recognition domain in unliganded form as well as in complex with an agalactosylated complex-type N-glycan unit carrying a bisecting GlcNAc residue. Bisecting GlcNAc and the α1-3 branch of the biantennary oligosaccharide asymmetrically interact with canonical and non-canonical mDCIR2 residues. Ligand-protein interactions occur directly through mDCIR2-characteristic amino acid residues as well as via a calcium ion and water molecule. Our structural and biochemical data elucidate for the first time the unique binding mode of mDCIR2 for bisecting GlcNAc-containing glycans, a mode that contrasts sharply with that of other immune C-type lectin receptors such as DC-SIGN.     

Expression and Characterization of Human β-1, 4-Galactosyltransferase 1 (β4GalT1) Using Silkworm–Baculovirus Expression System

Baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is widely known as a mass-production tool to produce functional recombinant glycoproteins except that it may not be always suitable for medical practice due to the differences in the structure of N-linked glycans between insects and mammalian. Currently, various approaches have been reported to alter N-linked glycan structures of glycoproteins derived from insects into terminally sialylated complex-type N-glycans. In the light of those studies, we also proposed in vitro maturation of N-glycan with mass-produced and purified glycosyltransferases by silkworm–BEVS. β-1,4-Galactosyltransferase 1 (β4GalT1) is known as one of type II transmembrane enzymes that transfer galactose in a β-1, 4 linkage to accepter sugars, and a key enzyme for further sialylation of N-glycans. In this study, we developed a large-scale production of recombinant human β4GalT1 (rhβ4GalT1) with N- or C-terminal tags in silkworm–BEVS. We demonstrated that rhβ4GalT1 is N-glycosylated and without mucin-type glycosylation. Interestingly, we found that purified rhβ4GalT1 from silkworm serum presented higher galactosyltransferase activity than that expressed from cultured mammalian cells. We also validated the UDP-galactose transferase activity of produced rhβ4GalT1 proteins by using protein subtracts from silkworm silk gland. Taken together, rhβ4GalT1 from silkworms can become a valuable tool for producing high-quality recombinant glycoproteins with mammalian-like N-glycans.     

Improvement of N-glycan site occupancy of therapeutic glycoproteins produced in Pichia pastoris

Yeast is capable of performing posttranslational modifications, such as N- or O-glycosylation. It has been demonstrated that N-glycans play critical biological roles in therapeutic glycoproteins by modulating pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. However, N-glycan sites on recombinant glycoproteins produced in yeast can be underglycosylated, and hence, not completely occupied. Genomic homology analysis indicates that the Pichia pastoris oligosaccharyltransferase (OST) complex consists of multiple subunits, including OST1, OST2, OST3, OST4, OST5, OST6, STT3, SWP1, and WBP1. Monoclonal antibodies produced in P. pastoris show that N-glycan site occupancy ranges from 75–85 % and is affected mainly by the OST function, and in part, by process conditions. In this study, we demonstrate that N-glycan site occupancy of antibodies can be improved to greater than 99 %, comparable to that of antibodies produced in mammalian cells (CHO), by overexpressing Leishmania major STT3D (LmSTT3D) under the control of an inducible alcohol oxidase 1 (AOX1) promoter. N-glycan site occupancy of non-antibody glycoproteins such as recombinant human granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) was also significantly improved, suggesting that LmSTT3D has broad substrate specificity. These results suggest that the glycosylation status of recombinant proteins can be improved by heterologous STT3 expression, which will allow for the customization of therapeutic protein profiles.     

N-Glycosylation and N-Glycan Moieties of CTB Expressed in Rice Seeds

Cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) is widely used as a carrier molecule and mucosal adjuvant and for the expression of fusion proteins of interest. CTB-fusion proteins are also expressed in plants, but the N-glycan structures of CTB have not been clarified. To gain insights into the N-glycosylation and N-glycans of CTB expressed in plants, we expressed CTB in rice seeds with an N-terminal glutelin signal and a C-terminal KDEL sequence and analyzed its N-glycosylation and N-glycan structures. CTB was successfully expressed in rice seeds in two forms: a form with N-glycosylation at Asn32 that included both plant-specific N-glycans and small oligomannosidic N-glycans and a non-N-glycosylated form. N-Glycan analysis of CTB showed that approximately 50 % of the N-glycans had plant-specific M3FX structures and that almost none of the N-glycans was of high-mannose-type N-glycan even though the CTB expressed in rice seeds contains a C-terminal KDEL sequence. These results suggest that the CTB expressed in rice was N-glycosylated through the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi N-glycosylation machinery without the ER retrieval.     

High-throughput quantitative analysis of plant N-glycan using a DNA sequencer

High-throughput quantitative analytical method for plant N-glycan has been developed. All steps, including peptide N-glycosidase (PNGase) A treatment, glycan preparation, and exoglycosidase digestion, were optimized for high-throughput applications using 96-well format procedures and automatic analysis on a DNA sequencer. The glycans of horseradish peroxidase with plant-specific core α(1,3)-fucose can be distinguished by the comparison of the glycan profiles obtained via PNGase A and F treatments. The peaks of the glycans with (91%) and without (1.2%) α(1,3)-fucose could be readily quantified and shown to harbor bisecting β(1,2)-xylose via simultaneous treatment with α(1,3)-mannosidase and β(1,2)-xylosidase. This optimized method was successfully applied to analyze N-glycans of plant-expressed recombinant antibody, which was engineered to contain a minor amount of glycan harboring β(1,2)-xylose. These results indicate that our DNA sequencer-based method provides quantitative information for plant-specific N-glycan analysis in a high-throughput manner, which has not previously been achieved by glycan profiling based on mass spectrometry.     

TbGT8 is a bifunctional glycosyltransferase that elaborates N-linked glycans on a protein phosphatase AcP115 and a GPI-anchor modifying glycan in Trypanosoma brucei

The procyclic form of Trypanosoma brucei expresses procyclin surface glycoproteins with unusual glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchor side chain structures that contain branched N-acetyllactosamine and lacto-N-biose units. The glycosyltransferase TbGT8 is involved in the synthesis of the branched side chain through its UDP-GlcNAc: βGal β1-3N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity. Here, we explored the role of TbGT8 in the mammalian bloodstream form of the parasite with a tetracycline-inducible conditional null T. brucei mutant for TbGT8. Under non-permissive conditions, the mutant showed significantly reduced binding to tomato lectin, which recognizes poly-N-acetyllactosamine-containing glycans. Lectin pull-down assays revealed differences between the wild type and TbGT8 null-mutant T. brucei, notably the absence of a broad protein band with an approximate molecular weight of 110 kDa in the mutant lysate. Proteomic analysis revealed that the band contained several glycoproteins, including the acidic ecto-protein phosphatase AcP115, a stage-specific glycoprotein in the bloodstream form of T. brucei. Western blotting with an anti-AcP115 antibody revealed that AcP115 was approximately 10 kDa smaller in the mutant. Enzymatic de-N-glycosylation demonstrated that the underlying protein cores were the same, suggesting that the 10-kDa difference was due to differences in N-linked glycans. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed the colocalization of hemagglutinin epitope-tagged TbGT8 and the Golgi-associated protein GRASP. These data suggest that TbGT8 is involved in the construction of complex poly-N-acetyllactosamine-containing type N-linked and GPI-linked glycans in the Golgi of the bloodstream and procyclic parasite forms, respectively.     

Recombinant proteins produced into yolk of genetically manipulated chickens are partly sialylated in N-glycan

The transgenic chicken is a candidate for the production of biopharmaceutical proteins with several economic superiorities. In general, the addition of sialic acid at the terminal of N-glycan is important for the bioactivity of biopharmaceuticals including plasma half-life; however, sialic acid has not been detected in the N-glycan of proteins produced in the egg white of genetically manipulated chickens. In this study, the extracellular domain of the TNF receptor and single chain Fv fused to Fc (referred to as TNFR/Fc and scFv/Fc, respectively) were purified from the egg yolk of genetically manipulated chickens and their sialylation in N-glycan was examined. In contrast to the glycan in egg white, yolk-derived proteins were partly sialylated. Lectin blot showed the existence of α2,6-sialic acid on TNFR/Fc, which disappeared with the removal of N-glycan by PNGase. In scFv/Fc, up to 7 % of N-glycan contained sialic acid. Disialyl glycans, which were detected in serum-derived scFv/Fc in a previous study, were not found in the yolk sample. Ovarian follicular tissue, which surrounds growing yolk, expressed several neuraminidases, suggesting the partial truncation of glycan during the yolk transfer process from the blood.