Publications

Polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) migration across the intestinal epithelium closely parallels disease symptoms in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. PMN transepithelial migration (TEM) is a multistep process that terminates with PMN detachment from the apical epithelium into the lumen. Using a unique mAb (GM35), we have previously demonstrated that engagement of the CD44 variant containing exon 6 (CD44v6) blocks both PMN detachment and cleavage of CD44v6. In this article, we report that PMN binding to CD44v6 is mediated by protein-specific O-glycosylation with sialyl Lewis A (sLe(a)). Analyses of glycosyltransferase expression identified fucosyltransferase 3 (Fut3) as the key enzyme driving sLe(a) biosynthesis in human intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). Fut3 transfection of sLe(a)-deficient IECs resulted in robust expression of sLe(a). However, this glycan was not expressed on CD44v6 in these transfected IECs; therefore, engagement of sLe(a) had no effect on PMN TEM across these cells. Analyses of sLe(a) in human colonic mucosa revealed minimal expression in noninflamed areas, with striking upregulation under colitic conditions that correlated with increased expression of CD44v6. Importantly, intraluminal administration of mAb GM35 blocked PMN TEM and attenuated associated increases in intestinal permeability in a murine intestinal model of inflammation. These findings identify a unique role for protein-specific O-glycosylation in regulating PMN-epithelial interactions at the luminal surface of the intestine.

Helminths are multicellular parasitic worms that comprise a major class of human pathogens and cause an immense amount of suffering worldwide. Helminths possess an abundance of complex and unique glycoconjugates that interact with both the innate and adaptive arms of immunity in definitive and intermediate hosts. These glycoconjugates represent a major untapped reservoir of immunomodulatory compounds, which have the potential to treat autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and antigenic glycans, which could be exploited as vaccines and diagnostics. This review will survey current knowledge of the interactions between helminth glycans and host immunity and highlight the gaps in our understanding which are relevant to advancing therapeutics, vaccine development, and diagnostics.

Glycans that are fluorescently tagged by reductive amination have been useful for functional glycomic studies. However, the existing tags can introduce unwanted properties to the glycans and complicate structural and functional studies. Here, we describe a facile method using N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) to remove the tags and efficiently regenerate free reducing glycans. The regenerated free reducing glycans can be easily analyzed by routine mass spectrometry or retagged with different tags for further studies. This new method can be used to efficiently remove a variety of fluorescent tags installed by reductive amination, including 2-aminobenzoic acid and 2-aminopyridine. NBS treatment essentially transforms the commonly used 2-aminobenzoic linkage to a cleavable linkage. It can be used to cleave printed glycans from microarrays and cleave neoglycopeptides containing a 2-aminobenzoic linker.

Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDGs) are caused by defects in genes that participate in biosynthetic glycosylation pathways. To date, 19 different genetic defects in N-glycosylation, 17 in O-glycosylation, and 21 in multiple glycosylation are known. Current diagnostic testing of CDGs largely relies on indirect analysis of glycosylation of serum transferrin. Such analysis alone is insufficient to diagnose many of the known glycosylation disorders. To improve the diagnosis of these groups of CDGs, we have developed serum or plasma N- and O-glycan profiling using a combination of MALDI-TOF/MS and LC-MS/MS technologies. Using this approach, we analyzed samples from nine patients with different known multiple glycosylation disorders, including three with COG deficiencies, one with TMEM165-CDG, two with PGM1-CDG, and three with SLC35A2-CDG, and one patient with combined type I and type II of unknown molecular etiology. Measurement of the relative quantities of various N- and O-glycan species clearly differentiates patients and controls. Our study demonstrates that structural analysis and quantitation of combined N- and O-glycan profiles are reliable diagnostic tools for CDGs.

In many different human disorders, the cellular glycome is altered. An interesting but poorly understood alteration occurs in the mucin-type O-glycome, in which there is aberrant expression of the truncated O-glycans Tn (GalNAcα1-Ser/Thr) and its sialylated version sialyl-Tn (STn) (Neu5Acα2,6GalNAcα1-Ser/Thr). Both Tn and STn are tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens and tumor biomarkers, since they are not expressed normally and appear early in tumorigenesis. Moreover, their expression is strongly associated with poor prognosis and tumor metastasis. The Tn and STn antigens are also expressed in other human diseases and disorders, such as Tn syndrome and IgA nephropathy. The major pathological mechanism for expression of the Tn and STn antigens is compromised T-synthase activity, resulting from alteration of the X-linked gene that encodes for Cosmc, a molecular chaperone specifically required for the correct folding of T-synthase to form active enzyme. This review will summarize our current understanding of the Tn and STn antigens in terms of their biochemistry and role in pathology.

As with many other viruses, the initial cell attachment of rotaviruses, which are the major causative agent of infantile gastroenteritis, is mediated by interactions with specific cellular glycans. The distally located VP8* domain of the rotavirus spike protein VP4 (ref. 5) mediates such interactions. The existing paradigm is that 'sialidase-sensitive' animal rotavirus strains bind to glycans with terminal sialic acid (Sia), whereas 'sialidase-insensitive' human rotavirus strains bind to glycans with internal Sia such as GM1 (ref. 3). Although the involvement of Sia in the animal strains is firmly supported by crystallographic studies, it is not yet known how VP8* of human rotaviruses interacts with Sia and whether their cell attachment necessarily involves sialoglycans. Here we show that VP8* of a human rotavirus strain specifically recognizes A-type histo-blood group antigen (HBGA) using a glycan array screen comprised of 511 glycans, and that virus infectivity in HT-29 cells is abrogated by anti-A-type antibodies as well as significantly enhanced in Chinese hamster ovary cells genetically modified to express the A-type HBGA, providing a novel paradigm for initial cell attachment of human rotavirus. HBGAs are genetically determined glycoconjugates present in mucosal secretions, epithelia and on red blood cells, and are recognized as susceptibility and cell attachment factors for gastric pathogens like Helicobacter pylori and noroviruses. Our crystallographic studies show that the A-type HBGA binds to the human rotavirus VP8* at the same location as the Sia in the VP8* of animal rotavirus, and suggest how subtle changes within the same structural framework allow for such receptor switching. These results raise the possibility that host susceptibility to specific human rotavirus strains and pathogenesis are influenced by genetically controlled expression of different HBGAs among the world's population.

The interaction of the endoplasmic reticulum molecular chaperone Cosmc with its specific client T-synthase (Core 1 β1-3-galactosyltransferase) is required for folding of the enzyme and eventual movement of the T-synthase to the Golgi, but the mechanism of interaction is unclear. Here we show that the lumenal domain of recombinant Cosmc directly interacts specifically in either free form or covalently bound to solid supports with denatured T-synthase but not with the active dimeric form of the enzyme. This leads to formation of a relatively stable complex of Cosmc and denatured T-synthase accompanied by formation of reactivated enzyme in an ATP-independent fashion that is not regulated by redox, calcium, pH, or intermolecular disulfide bond formation. The partly refolded and active T-synthase remains tightly bound noncovalently to Cosmc. Dissociation of T-synthase from the complex is promoted by further interactions of the complex with free forms of either native or non-native T-synthase. Taken together, these results demonstrate a novel mechanism in which Cosmc cycles to bind non-native T-synthase, leading to enzyme activity and release in a client-driven process.

Glycan microarrays prepared by immobilization of amino-functionalized glycans on NHS-activated glass slides have been successfully used to study protein-glycan interactions. Fluorescently tagged glycans with an amino functional group can be prepared from natural glycans released from glycoproteins. These tagged glycans can be enzymatically modified with various glycosyltransferases, phosphotransferases, sulfotransferases, etc., to quickly expand the size and diversity of the tagged glycan libraries (TGLs). The TGLs, presented in the format of microarrays, provide a convenient platform for identifying the glycan ligands of glycan-binding proteins (GBPs). The chapter provides the background to prepare a defined glycan microarray and uses as an example glycans generated as phosphodiesters and phosphomonoesters of high-mannose type N-glycans. The method describes the preparation of high-mannose type glycan-AEAB conjugates (GAEABs), the purification of their phosphodiesters, and the subsequent mild acid hydrolysis to obtain corresponding phosphomonoesters. These GAEABs are covalently printed as a phosphorylated glycan microarray and used for analysis of the glycan ligand specificities of P-type lectins, such as the mannose-6-phosphate receptors (Man-6-P receptors or MPRs).

The 300-kDa cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor (CI-MPR) plays an essential role in the biogenesis of lysosomes by delivering newly synthesized lysosomal enzymes from the trans Golgi network to the endosomal system. The CI-MPR is expressed in most eukaryotes, with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Caenorhabditis elegans being notable exceptions. Although the repertoire of glycans recognized by the bovine receptor has been studied extensively, little is known concerning the ligand-binding properties of the CI-MPR from non-mammalian species. To assess the evolutionary conservation of the CI-MPR, surface plasmon resonance analyses using lysosomal enzymes with defined N-glycans were carried out to probe the glycan-binding specificity of the Danio rerio CI-MPR. The results demonstrate that the D. rerio CI-MPR harbors three glycan-binding sites that, like the bovine CI-MPR, map to domains 3, 5 and 9 of its 15-domain-containing extracytoplasmic region. Analyses on a phosphorylated glycan microarray further demonstrated the unique binding properties of each of the three sites and showed that, similar to the bovine CI-MPR, only domain 5 of the D. rerio CI-MPR is capable of recognizing Man-P-GlcNAc-containing glycans.

Glycan microarrays are surfaces that contain immobilized oligosaccharides or glycoconjugates and have proven useful in probing the interactions between glycan-binding proteins (GBPs) and individual glycans. Such glycan microarrays have been especially important in studying virus-glycan interactions, as most viruses express one or more GBPs important for pathogenesis. For studying interactions of influenza viruses with glycans, we describe protocols for fluorescent labeling of virus, addition of virus to a glycan microarray, analysis of a glycan microarray slide experiment, and interpretation of data.