The alpha1-6-fucosyltransferase gene and its biological significance

GDP-L-Fuc:N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminide alpha1-6-fucosyltransferase (alpha1-6FucT) catalyzes the transfer of fucose from GDP-Fuc to N-linked type complex glycoproteins. This enzyme was purified from a human fibroblast cell line, porcine brain, a human gastric cancer cell line and human blood platelets. cDNA cloning of porcine and human alpha1-6FucT was performed from a porcine brain and gastric cancer cell cDNA libraries, respectively. Their homology is 92.2% at the nucleotide level and 95.7% at the amino acid level. No putative N-glycosylation sites were found in the predicted amino acid sequence. No homology to other fucosyltransferases such as alpha1-2FucT, alpha1-3FucT and alpha1-4FucT was found except for a region consisting of nine amino acids. The alpha1-6FucT gene is located at chromosome 14q24.3, which is also a different location from other fucosyltransferases reported to date. The alpha1-6FucT gene is the oldest gene family in the phylogenic trees among the nine cloned fucosyltransferase genes. alpha1-6FucT is widely expressed in various rat tissues and the expression of alpha1-6FucT in the liver is enhanced during hepatocarcinogenesis of LEC rats which develop hereditary hepatitis and hepatomas. In cases of human liver diseases, alpha1-6FucT is expressed in both hepatoma tissues and their surrounding tissues with chronic liver disease, but not in the case of normal liver. Serum alpha1-6-fucosylated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has been employed for an early diagnosis of patients with hepatoma. The mechanisms by which alpha1-6 fucosylation of AFP occurs in the hepatoma is not due to the up-regulation of alpha1-6FucT alone. Interestingly, when the alpha1-6FucT gene is transfected into Hep3B, a human hepatoma cell line, tumor formation in the liver of nude mice after splenic injection is dramatically suppressed. In this review, we focus on alpha1-6FucT and summarize its properties, gene expression and biological significance.     

A novel viral alpha2,3-sialyltransferase (v-ST3Gal I): transfer of sialic acid to fucosylated acceptors

The substrate specificity of an alpha2,3-sialyltransferase (v-ST3Gal I) obtained from myxoma virus infected RK13 cells has been determined. Like mammalian sialyltransferase enzymes, the viral enzyme contains the characteristic L- and S-sialyl motif sequences in its catalytic domain. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequences of cloned sialyltransferases suggests that v-ST3Gal I is closely related to mammalian ST3Gal IV. v-ST3Gal I catalyzes the transfer of sialic acid from CMP-NeuAc to Type I (Galbeta1-3GlcNAcbeta) II (Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta) and III (Galbeta1-3GalNAcbeta) acceptors. In addition, the viral enzyme also transfers sialic acid to the fucosylated acceptors Lewis(x) and Lewis(a). This substrate specificity is unlike any sialyltransferases described to date, though it is most comparable with those of mammalian ST3Gal IV enzymes. The products from reactions with fucosylated acceptors were characterized by capillary zone electrophoresis, (1)H-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. They were shown to be 2,3-sialylated Lewis(x) and 2,3-sialylated Lewis(a), respectively.     

Alpha1,3fucosyltransferases in cystic fibrosis airway epithelial cells

Cystic fibrosis (CF) has a glycophenotype of aberrant sialylation and/or fucosylation. The CF glycophenotype is expressed on membrane glycoconjugates of CF airway epithelial cells as increased fucosyl residues in alpha1,3/4 linkage to N-acetyl glucosamine, decreased fucosyl residues in alpha1,2 linkage to galactose and decreased sialic acid. To define the cause of this phenotype, the enzyme activity of alpha1,3fucosyltransferase (FucT) was examined in extracts of CF airway epithelial cells with a variety of low molecular weight substrates. Using Galbeta1,4GlcNAc as substrate, the activity was divided into 66% alpha1,3FucT and 34% alpha1,2FucT. mRNA expression examined with probes to FucTIII, IV, and VII showed that the highest expression of two CF cell lines was for FucTIV. Only one CF cell line expressed mRNA for FucTIII. The non CF airway epithelial cells had significant enzyme activity for alpha1,3FucT and strong mRNA expression for FucTIV. Thus as reported previously for alpha1,2FucT, the biochemical capacity for alpha1,3FucT was present in both the CF and non CF cells and can not be the cause of the CF glycophenotype. These results support the hypothesis that wild type CFTR acts in the Golgi and when mutated as in CF, faulty compartmentalization of terminal glycosyltransferases results, yielding the CF glycophenotype.     

Phosphorylation and sulfation of oligosaccharide substrates critically influence the activity of human beta1,4-galactosyltransferase 7 (GalT-I) and beta1,3-glucuronosyltransferase I (GlcAT-I) involved in the biosynthesis of the glycosaminoglycan-protein linkage region of proteoglycans

We determined whether the two major structural modifications, i.e. phosphorylation and sulfation of the glycosaminoglycan-protein linkage region (GlcAbeta1-3Galbeta1-3Galbeta1-4Xylbeta1), govern the specificity of the glycosyltransferases responsible for the biosynthesis of the tetrasaccharide primer. We analyzed the influence of C-2 phosphorylation of Xyl residue on human beta1,4-galactosyltransferase 7 (GalT-I), which catalyzes the transfer of Gal onto Xyl, and we evaluated the consequences of C-4/C-6 sulfation of Galbeta1-3Gal (Gal2-Gal1) on the activity and specificity of beta1,3-glucuronosyltransferase I (GlcAT-I) responsible for the completion of the glycosaminoglycan primer sequence. For this purpose, a series of phosphorylated xylosides and sulfated C-4 and C-6 analogs of Galbeta1-3Gal was synthesized and tested as potential substrates for the recombinant enzymes. Our results revealed that the phosphorylation of Xyl on the C-2 position prevents GalT-I activity, suggesting that this modification may occur once Gal is attached to the Xyl residue of the nascent oligosaccharide linkage. On the other hand, we showed that sulfation on C-6 position of Gal1 of the Galbeta1-3Gal analog markedly enhanced GlcAT-I catalytic efficiency and we demonstrated the importance of Trp243 and Lys317 residues of Gal1 binding site for enzyme activity. In contrast, we found that GlcAT-I was unable to use digalactosides as acceptor substrates when Gal1 was sulfated on C-4 position or when Gal2 was sulfated on both C-4 and C-6 positions. Altogether, we demonstrated that oligosaccharide modifications of the linkage region control the specificity of the glycosyltransferases, a process that may regulate maturation and processing of glycosaminoglycan chains.     

An amino acid region at the N-terminus of rat hepatoma alpha1-->2 fucosyltransferase modulates enzyme activity and interaction with lipids: strong preference for glycosphingolipids containing terminal Galbeta1-->3GalNAc-structures

A GDP-fucose:GM1 alpha1-->2 fucosyltransferase (FucT) is induced during early stages of chemical hepatocarcinogenesis in parenchymal cells of Fischer 344 rats fed a diet supplemented with 0.03% N-2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF). This enzyme is undetectable in normal rat liver tissues but is highly expressed in many rat hepatoma cell lines, including rat hepatoma H35 cells. Enzymatic properties and acceptor specificity of native rat hepatoma H35 cell alpha1-->2FucT, expressed recombinant full-length H35 cell alpha1-->2FucT, and a truncated form missing the first 27 amino acid residues from the N-terminus, comprising the cytoplasmic and transmembrane domains of the enzyme, were studied. The results indicate that the recombinant full-length enzyme has a specific activity over 80-fold higher than the truncated enzyme. Both the native and recombinant full-length enzymes display significant activity in the absence of detergent or phospholipid and optimal activity in the presence of Triton CF-54 detergent. The truncated enzyme is optimally activated by CHAPSO, showing little activity in its absence. These findings are in agreement with previous studies demonstrating a requirement of a lipidic environment for optimal activity with this enzyme and suggest that the N-terminal transmembrane domain is important either in the maintenance of an active conformation or in allowing efficient interaction with acceptor glycolipids. Both the full-length and truncated enzymes transfer fucose not only to GM1 and asialo-GM1 (Gg4) but also to galactosyl globoside (Gb5) as well. Weak or undetectable transfer to lacto- and neolacto-series acceptors was observed, demonstrating a strong preference for terminal Galbeta1-->3GalNAc- structures. The structures of two reaction products generated by expressed recombinant full-length alpha1-->2FucT, which are known to be important tumor-associated antigens (fucosyl-GM1 and fucosyl-Gb5), were unambiguously confirmed by 1H-NMR spectral analysis.     

Production of soluble human alpha3-fucosyltransferase (FucT VII) by membrane targeting and in vivo proteolysis

The rational design of fucosyltransferase (FucT VII) inhibitors as potential medication in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis requires the three-dimensional structure of this member of the glycosyltransferase family. Structure determination by X-ray diffraction analysis needs purified, soluble enzyme protein. For this purpose we developed a novel method for the high-yield production of soluble FucT VII by in vivo proteolysis. To obtain a soluble form of FucT VII a mammalian expression construct was made encoding an N-terminal portion of FucT VI (amino acids 1-63) fused with the stem region and catalytic domain of FucT VII (amino acids 39-342). Chinese hamster ovary cells stably transfected with this construct produced FucT activity in the supernatant, which has the same catalytic properties as wild-type FucT VII. This soluble form of FucT VII can be obtained in high amounts (1 mg/L) and can be efficiently purified by GDP-hexanolamine affinity chromatography. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the intrinsic properties of FucT VII could be transferred to secreted FucT VII constructs, which may open possibilities for production of soluble forms of other members of the glycosyltransferase family as well.     

Characterization of the substrate specificity of alpha1,3galactosyltransferase utilizing modified N-acetyllactosamine disaccharides.

alpha1,3galactosyltransferase (alpha1,3GalT) catalyzes the synthesis of a range of glycoconjugates containing the Galalpha1,3Gal epitope which is recognized by the naturally occurring human antibody, anti-Gal. This enzyme may be a useful synthetic tool to produce a range of compounds to further investigate the binding site of anti-Gal and other proteins with a Galalpha1,3Gal binding site. Thus, the enzyme has been probed with a series of type 2 disaccharide-C8(Galbeta1-4GlcNAc-C8) analogs. The enzyme tolerated acceptors with modifications at C2 and C3 of the N-acetylglucosamine residue, producing a family of compounds with a nonreducing alpha1,3 linked galactose. Compounds that did not serve as acceptors were evaluated as inhibitors. Interestingly, the type 1 disaccharide-C8, Galbeta1-3GlcNAc-C8, was a good inhibitor of the enzyme (Ki = 270 microM vs. Km = 190 microM for Galbeta1-4GlcNAc-C8). A potential photoprobe, based on a modified type 2 disaccharide (octyl 3-amino-3-deoxy-3-N-(2-diazo-3, 3, 3-trifluoropropionyl-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1, 4)-2-acetamindo-2-deoxy-beta-D-glycopyranoside, (DTFP-LacNAc-C8)), was evaluated as an inhibitor of alpha1,3GalT. alpha1,3GalT bound DTFP-LacNAc-C8 with an affinity (Ki = 300 microM) similar to that displayed by the enzyme for LacNAc-C8. Additional studies were done to determine the enzyme's ability to transfer a range of sugars from UDP-sugar donors. The results of these experiments demonstrated that alpha1,3GalT has a strict specificity for UDP-Gal. Finally, inactivation studies with various amino acid modifiers were done to obtain information on the importance of different types of amino acids for alpha1,3GalT activity.     

A single aromatic amino acid at the carboxyl terminus of Helicobacter pylori {alpha}1,3/4 fucosyltransferase determines substrate specificity

Fucosyltransferases (FucT) from different Helicobacter pylori strains display distinct Type I (Galbeta1,3GlcNAc) or Type II (Galbeta1,4GlcNAc) substrate specificity. FucT from strain UA948 can transfer fucose to the OH-3 of Type II acceptors as well as to the OH-4 of Type I acceptors on the GlcNAc moiety, so it has both alpha1,3 and alpha1,4 activities. In contrast, FucT from strain NCTC11639 has exclusive alpha1,3 activity. Our domain swapping study (Ma, B., Wang, G., Palcic, M. M., Hazes, B., and Taylor, D. E. (2003) J. Biol. Chem. 278, 21893-21900) demonstrated that exchange of the hypervariable loops, (347)DNPFIFC(353) in 11639FucT and (345)CNDAHYSALH(354) in UA948FucT, were sufficient to either confer or abolish alpha1,4 activity. Here we performed alanine scanning site-directed mutagenesis to identify which amino acids within (345)CNDAHYSALH(354) of UA948FucT confer Type I substrate specificity. The Tyr(350) --> Ala mutation dramatically reduced alpha1,4 activity without lowering alpha1,3 activity. None of the other alanine substitutions selectively eliminated alpha1,4 activity. To elucidate how Tyr(350) determines alpha1,4 specificity, mutants Tyr(350) --> Phe, Tyr(350) --> Trp, and Tyr(350) --> Gly were constructed in UA948FucT. These mutations did not decrease alpha1,3 activity but reduced the alpha1,4 activity to 66.9, 55.6, and 3.1% [corrected] of wild type level, respectively. Apparently the aromatic nature, but not the hydroxyl group of Tyr(350), is essential for alpha1,4 activity. Our data demonstrate that a single amino acid (Tyr(350)) in the C-terminal hypervariable region of UA948FucT determines Type I acceptor specificity. Notably, a single aromatic residue (Trp) has also been implicated in controlling Type I acceptor preference for human FucT III, but it is located in an N-terminal hypervariable stem domain.     

Purification and characterization of a soluble form of the recombinant human galactose-beta1,3-glucuronosyltransferase I expressed in the yeast Pichia pastoris

The galactose-beta1,3-glucuronosyltransferase I (GlcAT-I) catalyzes the transfer of glucuronic acid from UDP-alpha-D-glucuronic acid onto the terminal galactose of the trisaccharide glycosaminoglycan-protein linker region of proteoglycans. This enzyme plays a key role in the process of proteoglycan assembly since the completion of the linkage region is essential for the conversion of a core protein into a functional proteoglycan. To investigate the enzymatic properties of human GlcAT-I, we established an expression system for producing a soluble form of enzyme in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris and developed a three-step purification procedure using a combination of anion exchange, cation exchange and heparin chromatographies. This procedure yielded 1.6 mg homogeneous enzyme from 200 ml yeast cell culture, with a specific activity value of 1.5 micromol/min/mg protein. Analysis of the specificity of GlcAT-I towards Galbeta1-3Gal and Galbeta1-4GlcNAc derivatives known as substrates of the beta1,3-glucuronosyltransferases, showed that the enzyme exhibited a strict selectivity towards Galbeta1-3Gal structures. Thus, the large source of purified active enzyme allowed the determination of the kinetic parameters of GlcAT-I towards the donor substrate UDP-GlcA and the acceptor substrate digalactoside Galbeta1-3Gal.     

Genetically altered mice with different sialyltransferase deficiencies show tissue-specific alterations in sialylation and sialic acid 9-O-acetylation

Glycan chains on glycoconjugates traversing the Golgi apparatus are often terminated by sialic acid residues, which can also be 9-O-acetylated. This process involves competition between multiple Golgi enzymes. Expression levels of Golgi enzyme mRNAs do not always correlate with enzyme activity, which in turn cannot accurately predict glycan sequences found on cell surfaces. Here we examine the cell type-specific expression of terminal glycans in tissues of normal mice in comparison with animals deficient in ST6Gal-I (transfers alpha2-6-linked sialic acid to Galbeta1-4GlcNAc) or ST3Gal-I (transfers alpha2-3-linked sialic acid to Galbeta1-3GalNAc). Tissues of ST6Gal-I null mice showed minimal binding of an alpha2-6-sialic acid-specific lectin, indicating that no other enzyme generates Siaalpha2-6Galbeta1-4GlcNAc and that Siaalpha2-6GalNAc (sialyl-Tn) is rare in mice. However, exposed Galbeta1-4GlcNAc termini were only moderately increased, indicating that these can be partially capped by other enzymes. Indeed, Galalpha1-3Galbeta1-4GlcNAc and Fucalpha1-2Galbeta1-4GlcNAc termini were enhanced in some tissues. Many tissues of ST3Gal-I null animals showed increases in Galbeta1-3GalNAc termini, and some increases in poly-N-acetyllactosamines. However, overall expression of alpha2-3-linked sialic acid was selectively reduced only in a few instances, indicating that other ST3Gal enzymes can generate this linkage in most tissues. Highly selective losses of 9-O-acetylation of sialic acid residues were also observed, with ST6Gal-I deficiency causing loss on endothelium and ST3Gal-I deficiency giving a marked decrease on CD4(+) lymphocytes. These data demonstrate selective regulation of sialylation and 9-O-acetylation, point to cell types with potential physiological defects in null animals, and show in vivo evidence for competition between Golgi enzymes.     

Crystal structure of beta 1,3-glucuronyltransferase I in complex with active donor substrate UDP-GlcUA

Beta1,3-glucuronyltransferase (GlcAT-I) is an essential enzyme involved in heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate biosynthesis. GlcAT-I is an inverting glycosyltransferase that catalyzes the transfer of glucuronic acid (GlcUA) to the common growing linker region Galbeta1-3Galbeta1-4Xyl that is attached to a serine side chain of a core protein. Previously the structure of GlcAT-I has been solved in the presence of the donor product UDP and an acceptor analog Galbeta1-3Galbeta1-4Xyl (Pedersen, L. C., Tsuchida, K., Kitagawa, H., Sugahara, K., Darden, T. A. & Negishi, M. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 34580-34585). Here we report the x-ray crystal structure of GlcAT-I in complex with the complete donor UDP-GlcUA, thereby providing structures of an inverting glycosyltransferase in which both the complete donor and acceptor substrates are present in the active site. This structure supports the in-line displacement reaction mechanism previously proposed. It also provides information on the essential amino acid residues that determine donor substrate specificity.     

Sulfation of the galactose residues in the glycosaminoglycan-protein linkage region by recombinant human chondroitin 6-O-sulfotransferase-1

6-O-Sulfated galactose residues have been demonstrated in the glycosaminoglycan-protein linkage region GlcUAbeta1-3Galbeta1-3Galbeta1-4Xylbeta1-O-Ser isolated from shark cartilage chondroitin 6-sulfate (Sugahara, K., Ohi, Y., Harada, T., de Waard, P., and Vliegenthart, J. F. G. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 6027-6035). In this study, we investigated whether a recombinant human chondroitin 6-sulfotransferase-1 (C6ST-1) catalyzes the sulfation of C6 on both galactose residues in the linkage region using structurally defined acceptor substrates. The C6ST-1 was expressed as a soluble protein A chimeric form in COS-1 cells and purified using IgG-Sepharose. The purified C6ST-1 utilized the linkage tri-, tetra-, penta-, and hexasaccharide-serines and hexasaccharide alditols, including GlcUAbeta1-3GalNAc(4-O-sulfate)beta1-4GlcUAbeta1-3Gal(4-O-sulfate)beta1-3Galbeta1-4Xylbeta1-O-Ser and DeltaGlcUAbeta1-3GalNAc(6-O-sulfate)beta1-4GlcUAbeta1-3Galbeta1-3Gal(6-O-sulfate)beta1-4Xyl-ol. Identification of the reaction products obtained with the linkage tetra-, penta-, and hexasaccharide-serines revealed that the C6ST-1 catalyzed the sulfation of C6 on both galactose residues in the linkage region. Notably, the linkage tetrasaccharide-peptide GlcUAbeta1-3Galbeta1-3Galbeta1-4Xylbeta1-O-(Gly)Ser-(Gly-Glu) was a good acceptor substrate for the C6ST-1, suggesting that the sulfation of the galactose residues can occur before the transfer of the first N-acetylhexosamine residue to the linkage tetrasaccharide. In contrast, no incorporation was observed into DeltaGlcUAbeta1-3GalNAc(4-O-sulfate)beta1-4GlcUAbeta1-3Gal(4-O-sulfate)beta1-3Galbeta1-4Xyl-ol, indicating that an intact xylose is necessary for the transfer of a sulfate to the second sugar residue Gal from the reducing end. These findings clearly demonstrated that the recombinant C6ST-1 catalyzes the sulfation of C6 on both galactose residues in the linkage region in vitro. This is the first identification of the sulfotransferase responsible for the sulfation of galactose residues in the glycosaminoglycan-protein linkage region.     

C-terminal amino acids of Helicobacter pylori alpha1,3/4 fucosyltransferases determine type I and type II transfer

The alpha1,3/4 fucosyltransferase (FucT) enzyme from Helicobacter pylori catalyzes fucose transfer from donor GDP-beta-l-fucose to the GlcNAc group of two series of acceptor substrates in H. pylori lipopolysaccharide: betaGal1,3betaGlcNAc (Type I) or betaGal1,4betaGlcNAc (Type II). Fucose is added either in alpha1,3 linkage of Type II acceptor to produce Lewis X or in alpha1,4 linkage of Type I acceptor to produce Lewis A, respectively. H. pylori FucTs from different strains have distinct Type I or Type II substrate specificities. FucT in H. pylori strain NCTC11639 has an exclusive alpha1,3 activity because it recognizes only Type II substrates, whereas FucT in H. pylori strain UA948 can utilize both Type II and Type I acceptors; thus it has both alpha1,3 and alpha1,4 activity, respectively. To identify elements conferring substrate specificity, 12 chimeric FucTs were constructed by domain swapping between 11639FucT and UA948FucT and characterized for their ability to transfer fucose to Type I and Type II acceptors. Our results indicate that the C-terminal region of H. pylori FucTs controls Type I and Type II acceptor specificity. In particular, the highly divergent C-terminal portion, seven amino acids DNPFIFC at positions 347-353 in 11639FucT, and the corresponding 10 amino acids CNDAHYSALH at positions 345-354 in UA948FucT, controls the Type I and Type II acceptor recognition. This is the opposite of mammalian FucTs where acceptor preference is determined primarily by the N-terminal residues in the hypervariable stem domain.     

Identification and molecular cloning of a novel glycoside hydrolase family of core 1 type O-glycan-specific endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase from Bifidobacterium longum

We found endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase in most bifidobacterial strains, which are predominant bacteria in the human colon. This enzyme catalyzes the liberation of galactosyl beta1,3-N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (Galbeta1,3GalNAc) alpha-linked to serine or threonine residues from mucin-type glycoproteins. The gene (engBF) encoding the enzyme has been cloned from Bifidobacterium longum JCM 1217. The protein consisted of 1,966 amino acid residues, and the central domain (590-1381 amino acid residues) exhibited 31-53% identity to hypothetical proteins of several bacteria including Clostridium perfringens and Streptococcus pneumoniae. The recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli liberated Galbeta1,3GalNAc disaccharide from Galbeta1,3GalNAcalpha1pNP and asialofetuin, but did not release GalNAc, Galbeta1,3(GlcNAcbeta1,6)GalNAc, GlcNAcbeta1,3GalNAc, and Galbeta1,3GlcNAc from each p-nitrophenyl (pNP) substrate, and also did not release sialo-oligosaccharides from fetuin, indicating its strict substrate specificity for the Core 1-type structure. The stereochemical course of hydrolysis was determined by (1)H NMR and was found to be retention. Site-directed mutagenesis of a total of 22 conserved Asp and Glu residues suggested that Asp-682 and Asp-789 are critical residues for the catalytic activity of the enzyme. The enzyme also exhibited transglycosylation activity toward various mono- and disaccharides and 1-alkanols, demonstrating its potential to synthesize neoglycoconjugates. This is the first report for the isolation of a gene encoding endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase from any organisms and for the establishment of a new glycoside hydrolase family (GH family 101).     

Caenorhabditis elegans galectins LEC-1-LEC-11: structural features and sugar-binding properties

Galectins form a large family of beta-galactoside-binding proteins in metazoa and fungi. This report presents a comparative study of the functions of potential galectin genes found in the genome database of Caenorhabditis elegans. We isolated full-length cDNAs of eight potential galectin genes (lec-2-5 and 8-11) from a lambdaZAP cDNA library. Among them, lec-2-5 were found to encode 31-35-kDa polypeptides containing two carbohydrate-recognition domains similar to the previously characterized lec-1, whereas lec-8-11 were found to encode 16-27-kDa polypeptides containing a single carbohydrate-recognition domain and a C-terminal tail of unknown function. Recombinant proteins corresponding to lec-1-4, -6, and 8-10 were expressed in Escherichia coli, and their sugar-binding properties were assessed. Analysis using affinity adsorbents with various beta-galactosides, i.e., N-acetyllactosamine (Galbeta1-4GlcNAc), lacto-N-neotetraose (Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-3Galbeta1-4Glc), and asialofetuin, demonstrated that LEC-1-4, -6, and -10 have a significant affinity for beta-galactosides, while the others have a relatively lower affinity. These results indicate that the integrity of key amino acid residues responsible for recognition of lactose (Galbeta1-4Glc) or N-acetyllactosamine in vertebrate galectins is also required in C. elegans galectins. However, analysis of their fine oligosaccharide-binding properties by frontal affinity chromatography suggests their divergence towards more specialized functions.     

Mutation of amino acids in the alpha 1,3-fucosyltransferase motif affects enzyme activity and Km for donor and acceptor substrates

Alpha 1,3-fucosyltransferases (FucT) share a conserved amino acid sequence designated the alpha 1,3 FucT motif that has been proposed to be important for nucleotide sugar binding. To evaluate the importance of the amino acids in this motif, each of the alpha 1,3 FucT motif amino acids was replaced with alanine (alanine scanning mutagenesis) in human FucT VI, and the resulting mutant proteins were analyzed for enzyme activity and kinetically characterized in those cases in which the mutant protein had sufficient activity. Two of the mutant proteins were inactive, six had less than 1% of wild-type activity, and four had approximately 10-50% of wild-type enzyme activity. Three of the mutant proteins with significant enzyme activity had substantially larger Km (5 to 15 times) for GDP-fucose than FucT VI wild-type enzyme. The fourth mutant protein with significant enzyme activity (S249A) had a Km at least 10 times larger than wild-type FucT VI for the acceptor substrate, with only a slightly larger (2-3 times) Km for GDP-fucose. Thus mutation of any of the amino acids within the alpha 1,3 FucT motif to Ala affects alpha 1,3-FucT activity, and substitution of Ala for some of the alpha 1,3 FucT motif amino acids results in proteins with altered kinetic constants for both the acceptor and donor substrates. Secondary structure prediction suggests a helix-loop-helix fold for the alpha 1,3 FucT motif, which can be used to rationalize the effects of mutations in terms of 3D structure.     

Purification and cDNA cloning of UDP-GlcNAc:GlcNAcbeta1-3Galbeta1-4Glc(NAc)-R [GlcNAc to Gal]beta1,6N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase from rat small intestine: a major carrier of dIGnT activity in rat small intestine

A rat intestinal beta1,6N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (beta1-6GnT) responsible for the formation of the beta1,6-branched poly-N-acetyllactosamine structure has been purified to apparent homogeneity by successive column chromatographic procedures using an assay wherein pyridylaminated lacto- N-triose II (GlcNAcbeta1-3Galbeta1-4Glc-PA) was used as an acceptor substrate and the reaction product was GlcNAcbeta1-3(GlcNAcbeta1-6)Galbeta1-4Glc-PA. The purified enzyme catalyzed the conversion of the polylactosamine acceptor GlcNAcbeta1-3'LacNAc into GlcNAcbeta1-3'(GlcNAcbeta1-6') LacNAc (dIGnT activity), but it could not transfer GlcNAc to LacNAcbeta1-3'LacNAc (cIGnT activity). This enzyme could also convert mucin core 1 and core 3 analogs, Galbeta1-3GalNAcalpha1-O-paranitrophenyl (pNP) and GlcNAcbeta1-3GalNAcalpha1-O-pNP, into Galbeta1-3(GlcNAcbeta1-6) GalNAcalpha1-O-pNP (C2GnT activity) and GlcNAcbeta1-3(GlcNAcbeta1-6)GalNAcalpha1-O-pNP (C4GnT activity), respectively. Based on the partial amino acid sequences of the purified protein, the cDNA encoding this enzyme was cloned. The COS-1 cells transiently transfected with this cDNA had high dI/C2/C4GnT activities in a ratio of 0.34:1.00:0.90, compared with non- or mock-transfected cells. The primary structure shows a significant homology with human and viral mucin-type core 2 beta1-6GnTs (C2GnT-Ms), indicating that this enzyme is the rat ortholog of human and viral C2GnT-Ms. This is the first identification and purification of this enzyme as a major carrier of dIGnT activity in the small intestine. This rat ortholog should mostly be responsible for making distal I-branch structures on poly-N-acetyllactosamine sequences in this tissue, as well as making mucin core 2 and core 4 structures, given that it also has high C2/C4GnT activities.     

Identification of an alpha3-fucosyltransferase and a novel alpha2- fucosyltransferase activity in cercariae of the schistosome Trichobilharzia ocellata: biosynthesis of the Fucalpha1-->2Fucalpha1-- >3[Gal(NAc)beta1-->4]GlcNAc sequence

Fucose is a major constituent of the protein- and lipid-linked glycans of the various life-cycle stages of schistosomes. These fucosylated glycans are highly antigenic and seem to play a role in the pathology of schistosomiasis. In this article we describe the identification and characterization of two fucosyltransferases (FucTs) in cercariae of the avian schistosome Trichobilharzia ocellata, a GDP-Fuc:[Galbeta1-- >4]GlcNAcbeta-R alpha1-->3-FucT and a novel GDP-Fuc:Fucalpha-R alpha1-- >2-FucT. Triton X-100 extracts of cercariae were assayed for FucT activity using a variety of acceptor substrates. Type 1 chain (Galbeta1- ->3GlcNAc) based compounds were poor acceptors, whereas those based on a type 2 chain (Galbeta1-->4GlcNAc), whether alpha2'-fucosylated, alpha3'-sialylated, or unsubstituted, and whether present as oligosaccharide or contained in a glycopeptide or glycoprotein, all served as acceptor substrates. In this respect the schistosomal alpha3- FucT resembles human FucT V and VI rather than other known FucTs. N- ethylmaleimide, an inhibitor of several human FucTs, had no effect on the activity of the schistosomal alpha3-FucT, whereas GDP-beta-S was strongly inhibitory. Large scale incubations were carried out with Galbeta1-->4GlcNAc, GalNAcbeta1-->4GlcNAcbeta-O -(CH2)8COOCH3 and Fucalpha1-->3GlcNAcbeta1-->2Man as acceptor substrates and the products of the incubations were isolated using a sequence of chromatographic techniques. By methylation analysis and 2D-TOCSY and ROESY1H-NMR spectroscopy the products formed were shown to be Galbeta1-- >4[Fucalpha1-->2Fucalpha1-->3]GlcNAc, GalNAcbeta1-->4[Fucalpha1-- >2Fucalpha1-->3]GlcNAcbe ta-O-(CH2)8COOCH3, and Fucalpha1-->2Fucalpha1-- >3GlcNAcbeta1-->2Man, respectively. It is concluded that the alpha2- FucT and alpha3-FucT are involved in the biosynthesis of the (oligomeric) Lewisx sequences and the Fucalpha1-->2Fucalpha1-->3GlcNAc structural element that have been described on schistosomal glycoconjugates.