Abstract: | In mammals, xylose is found as the first sugar residue of the
tetrasaccharide
GlcAβ1-3Galβ1-3Galβ1-4Xylβ1-O-Ser, initiating the
formation of the glycosaminoglycans heparin/heparan sulfate and
chondroitin/dermatan sulfate. It is also found in the trisaccharide
Xylα1-3Xylα1-3Glcβ1-O-Ser on epidermal growth factor
repeats of proteins, such as Notch. UDP-xylose synthase (UXS), which catalyzes
the formation of the UDP-xylose substrate for the different
xylosyltransferases through decarboxylation of UDP-glucuronic acid, resides in
the endoplasmic reticulum and/or Golgi lumen. Since xylosylation takes place
in these organelles, no obvious requirement exists for membrane transport of
UDP-xylose. However, UDP-xylose transport across isolated Golgi membranes has
been documented, and we recently succeeded with the cloning of a human
UDP-xylose transporter (SLC25B4). Here we provide new evidence for a
functional role of UDP-xylose transport by characterization of a new Chinese
hamster ovary cell mutant, designated pgsI-208, that lacks UXS activity. The
mutant fails to initiate glycosaminoglycan synthesis and is not capable of
xylosylating Notch. Complementation was achieved by expression of a
cytoplasmic variant of UXS, which proves the existence of a functional Golgi
UDP-xylose transporter. A ~200 fold increase of UDP-glucuronic acid
occurred in pgsI-208 cells, demonstrating a lack of UDP-xylose-mediated
control of the cytoplasmically localized UDP-glucose dehydrogenase in the
mutant. The data presented in this study suggest the bidirectional transport
of UDP-xylose across endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi membranes and its role in
controlling homeostasis of UDP-glucuronic acid and UDP-xylose production.Xylose is only known to occur in two different mammalian glycans. First,
xylose is the starting sugar residue of the common tetrasaccharide,
GlcAβ1,3Galβ1,3Galβ1,4Xylβ1-O-Ser, attached to
proteoglycan core proteins to initiate the biosynthesis of glycosaminoglycans
(GAGs)2
(1). Second, xylose is found in
the trisaccharide Xylα1,3Xylα1,3Glcβ1-O-Ser in
epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeats of proteins, such as blood
coagulation factors VII and IX
(2) and Notch
(3)
(). Two variants of
O-xylosyltransferases (XylT1 and XylT2) are responsible for the
initiation of glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis, which differ in terms of
acceptor specificity and tissue distribution
(4-7),
and two different enzymatic activities have been identified that catalyze
xylosylation of O-glucose residues added to EGF repeats
(8-10).
On Notch, O-glucose occurs on EGF repeats in a similar fashion as
O-fucose, which modifications have been shown to influence
ligand-mediated Notch signaling
(11-16).
Recently, rumi, the gene encoding the Notch
O-glucosyltransferase in Drosophila, has been identified,
and inactivation of the gene was found to cause a temperature-sensitive
Notch phenotype (17).
Although this finding clearly demonstrated that O-glucosylation is
essential for Notch signaling, the importance of xylosylation for Notch
functions remains ambiguous.Open in a separate windowUDP-xylose metabolism in mammalian cells. A, UDP-Xyl is
synthesized in two steps from UDP-Glc by the enzymes UGDH, forming UDP-GlcA,
and UXS, also referred to as UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase. UGDH is
inhibited by the product of the second enzyme, UDP-Xyl
(42). B, in mammals,
UDP-Xyl is synthesized within the lumen of the ER/Golgi, where it is substrate
for different xylosyltransferases incorporating xylose in the
glycosaminoglycan core (XylT1 and XylT2) or in O-glucose-linked
glycans. The nucleotide sugar transporter SLC35D1
(52) has been shown to
transport UDP-GlcA over the ER membrane and SLC35B4
(29) to transport UDP-Xyl over
the Golgi membrane. The function of this latter transporter is unclear.Several different Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines with defects in
GAG biosynthesis have been isolated by screening for reduced incorporation of
sulfate (18) and reduced
binding of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2)
(19,
20) and by direct selection
with FGF-2 conjugated to the plant cytotoxin saporin
(21). Isolated cells (called
pgs, for proteoglycan synthesis mutants)
(21) exhibited defects in
various stages of GAG biosynthesis, ranging from the initiating
xylosyltransferase to specific sulfation reactions
(18,
19,
21-25).
Mutants that affect overall GAG biosynthesis were shown to have a defect in
the assembly of the common core tetrasaccharide. Interestingly, these latter
mutants could be separated into clones in which GAG biosynthesis can be
restored by the external addition of xylosides as artificial primers and those
that cannot (18). The two
mutants belonging to the first group are pgsA-745 and pgsB-761. Although
pgs-745 is defective in XylT2
(4-6,
18), pgsB-761 exhibits a
defect in galactosyltransferase I (B4GalT7), the enzyme that catalyzes the
first step in the elongation of the xylosylated protein (25 (see
). Restoration
of GAG biosynthesis in the latter mutant presumably occurs through a second
β1-4-galactosyltransferase, able to act on xylosides when provided at
high concentration but not on the endogenous protein-linked xylose.Here we describe the isolation of a third CHO cell line (pgsI-208) with the
xyloside-correctable phenotype. The mutant is deficient in UDP-xylose synthase
(UXS), also known as UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase. This enzyme catalyzes
the synthesis of UDP-Xyl, the common donor substrate for the different
xylosyltransferases, by decarboxylation of UDP-glucuronic acid. Importantly,
UXS in the animal cell is localized in the lumen of the ER and/or Golgi
(26-28),
superseding at first sight the need for the Golgi UDP-xylose transporter,
which has been recently cloned and characterized
(29). Using this cell variant,
experiments were designed that establish the functional significance of
UDP-Xyl transport with respect to UDP-glucuronic acid production and
xylosylation. |