GlcA Residues Research Articles

Characterizing the Non-reducing End Structure of Heparan Sulfate

The reducing end of heparan sulfate has been known for a long time, but information on the non-reducing end has been lacking. Recent studies indicate that the non-reducing end of heparan sulfate might be the place where fibroblast growth factor signaling complex forms. The non-reducing end also changes with heparanase digestion and, thus, might serve as a marker for tumor pathology. Using high performance liquid chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry, we have identified and characterized the non-reducing end of bovine kidney heparan sulfate. We find that the non-reducing end region is highly sulfated and starts with a glucuronic acid (GlcA) residue. The likely sequence of the non-reducing end hexasaccharides is GlcA-GlcNS6S-UA+/-2S-GlcNS+/-6S-Ido2S-GlcNS+/-6S (where GlcNS is N-sulfate-D-glucosamine, S is sulfate, UA is uronic acid, and Ido is iduronic acid). Our data suggests that the non-reducing end of bovine kidney heparan sulfate is not trimmed by heparanase and is capable of supporting fibroblast growth factor signaling complex formation.

Structural and Sequence Motifs in Dermatan Sulfate for Promoting Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 (FGF-2) and FGF-7 Activity

Glycosaminoglycans have been implicated in the binding and activation of a variety of growth factors, cytokines, and chemokines. In this way, glycosaminoglycans are thought to participate in events such as development and wound repair. In particular, heparin and heparan sulfate have been well studied, and specific aspects of their structure dictate their participation in a variety of activities. In contrast, although dermatan sulfate participates in many of the same biological processes as heparin and heparan sulfate, the interactions of dermatan sulfate have been less well studied. Dermatan sulfate is abundant in the wound environment and binds and activates growth factors such as fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) and FGF-7, which are present during the wound repair process. To determine the minimum size and sulfation content of active dermatan sulfate oligosaccharides, dermatan sulfate was first digested and then separated by size exclusion high pressure liquid chromatography, and the activity to facilitate FGF-2 and FGF-7 was assayed by the cellular proliferation of cell lines expressing FGFR1 or FGFR2 IIIb. The minimum size required for the activation of FGF-2 was an octasaccharide and for FGF-7 a decasaccharide. Active fractions were rich in monosulfated, primarily 4-O-sulfated, disaccharides and iduronic acid. Increasing the sulfation to primarily 2/4-O-sulfated and 2/6-O-sulfated disaccharides did not increase activity. Cell proliferation decreased or was abolished with higher sulfated dermatan sulfate preparations. This indicated a preference for specific dermatan sulfate oligosaccharides capable of promoting FGF-2- and FGF-7-dependent cell proliferation. These data identify critical oligosaccharides that promote specific members of the FGF family that are important for wound repair and angiogenesis.

The Structure of the Polysaccharides Produced by Higher Basidiomyces Tremella mesenterica Ritz.: Fr. and Inonotus levis P. Karst.

Polysaccharides are the best known and most potent mushroom-derived substances, with various positive health eff ects including immunostimulation, lowering glucose level in blood, anticancer activity, and many others. Biologically active polysaccharides are widerspread among higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms, and most of them have unique structures in diff erent species. Th ere is still no clear correlation between biological activity and structural features of the polysaccharides. Th is situation results in part from poor knowledge of polysaccharide structures. Herein, we present the results from analyzing two polymers of Tremella mesenterica and Inonotus levis. Tremella mesenterica (Yellow Brain mushroom) possesses a wide spectrum of medicinal properties, including immunostimulating, protecting against radiation, antidiabetic, anti-infl ammatory, hypocholesterolemic, hepatoprotective, and antiallergic eff ects. Glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), an extracellular polysaccharide produced by single cell culture of T. mesenterica, has a number of benefi cial health eff ects. We developed a new strain of T. mesenterica, CBS 101939, which grows in submerged culture and off ers superior yields of one-cell biomass rich in exocellular heteropolysaccharide GXM. NMR and chemical analysis showed that it has a defi ned structure of repeating unit, which is O-acetylated at several points, stoichometrically at O-6 of two mannose residues, and partially at GlcA residue, which is present in non-acetylated or acetylated at positions 3 or 4 forms (see Fig. 1). Th ese results diff er from existing data on the structures of mushroom mannan-based poly sac charides, where mannan backbone was believed to be

Exploiting the carboxylate chemical shift to resolve degenerate resonances in spectra of13C-labelled glycosaminoglycans

Glycosaminoglycans (GAG) are important vertebrate extracellular matrix polysaccharides that comprise repeated units of an acidic and an N-acetylated sugar. The constituent acidic sugars are central to their biological functions, but have been largely inaccessible to NMR because the (1)H resonances overlap with those from other residues. Here, pulse sequences that address this failure are developed using (13)C-enriched oligosaccharides of the glycosaminoglycan, hyaluronan, as model systems. Two pulse sequences are presented that exploit the unique chemical shifts and scalar couplings present at the carboxylate moiety to filter out coherences from the N-acetylated sugars and produce simple spectra containing only resonances from the acidic sugars. The first sequence uses one-bond couplings to correlate the carboxylate carbon with the adjacent carbon and its directly attached proton, while the second sequence exploits a long-range coupling to correlate the carboxylate carbon with the anomeric proton and carbon of the same residue. In addition, inclusion of an isotropic mixing block into these sequences allows resonances from the otherwise degenerate ring protons to be resolved. Spectra from the hyaluronan tetra- and hexasaccharides show that all glucuronic acid (GlcA) residues can be resolved from one another, allowing nuclei to be assigned in a sequence-specific manner. However, in some spectra, resonances are observed at positions not predicted by spin-operator analysis, and simulations reveal that these additional magnetisation transfers result from strong-coupling. These experiments represent a foundation from which new structural and biochemical information can be obtained in a sequence-specific manner for the acidic sugar residues in hyaluronan and other glycosaminoglycans.

Enzymatic glycosidation of sugar oxazolines having a carboxylate group catalyzed by chitinase

Enzymatic glycosidation using sugar oxazolines 1– 3 having a carboxylate group as glycosyl donors and compounds 4– 6 as glycosyl acceptors was performed by employing a chitinase from Bacillus sp. as catalyst. All the glycosidations proceeded with full control in stereochemistry at the anomeric carbon of the donor and regio-selectivity of the acceptor. The N, N′-diacetyl-6′- O-carboxymethylchitobiose oxazoline derivative 1 was effectively glycosidated, under catalysis by the enzyme, with methyl N, N′-diacetyl-β-chitobioside ( 4), pent-4-enyl N-acetyl-β- d-glucosaminide ( 5), and methyl N-acetyl-β- d-glucosaminide ( 6), affording in good yields the corresponding oligosaccharide derivatives having 6- O-carboxymethyl group at the nonreducing GlcNAc residue. The N, N′-diacetyl-6- O-carboxymethylchitobiose oxazoline derivative 2 was subjected to catalysis by the enzyme catalysis; however, no glycosidated products were produced through the reactions with 4, 5, and 6. Glycosidation reactions of the β- d-glucosyluronic-(1→4)- N-acetyl- d-glucosamine oxazoline derivative 3 proceeded with each of the glycosyl acceptors, giving rise to the corresponding oligosaccharide derivative having a GlcA residue at their nonreducing termini in good yields.

Structural determination of five novel tetrasaccharides containing 3-O-sulfated D-glucuronic acid and two rare oligosaccharides containing a beta-D-glucose branch isolated from squid cartilage chondroitin sulfate E.

Oversulfated chondroitin sulfate E (CS-E) derived from squid cartilage exhibits intriguing biological activities, which appear to reflect the biological activities of mammalian CS chains containing the so-called E disaccharide unit [GlcAbeta1-3GalNAc(4,6-O-disulfate)]. Previously, we isolated novel tetra- and hexasaccharides containing a rare GlcA(3-O-sulfate) at the nonreducing end after digestion of squid cartilage CS-E with testicular hyaluronidase. In this study, squid cartilage CS-E was extensively digested with chondroitinase AC-II, which yielded five highly sulfated novel tetrasaccharides and two odd-numbered oligosaccharides (tri- and pentasaccharides) containing D-Glc. Their structures were determined by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The results revealed an internal GlcA(3-O-sulfate) residue for all the novel tetrasaccharide sequences, which rendered the oligosaccharides resistant to the enzyme. The results suggest that GlcA(3-O-sulfate) units are not clustered but rather interspersed in the CS-E polysaccahride chains, being preferentially located in the highly sulfated sequences. The predominant structure on the nearest nonreducing side of a GlcA(3-O-sulfate) residue was GalNAc(4-O-sulfate) (80%), whereas that on the reducing side was GalNAc(4,6-O-disulfate) (59%). The structural variety in the vicinity of the GlcA(3-O-sulfate) residue might represent the substrate specificity of the unidentified chondroitin GlcA 3-O-sulfotransferase. The results also revealed a trisaccharide and a pentasaccahride sequence, both of which contained a beta-d-Glc branch at the C6 position of the constituent GalNAc residue. Approximately 5 mol % of all disaccharide units were substituted by Glc in the CS-E preparation used.

Crystal Structure of Unsaturated Glucuronyl Hydrolase, Responsible for the Degradation of Glycosaminoglycan, from Bacillus sp. GL1 at 1.8 Å Resolution

Unsaturated glucuronyl hydrolase (UGL) is a novel glycosaminoglycan hydrolase that releases unsaturated d-glucuronic acid from oligosaccharides produced by polysaccharide lyases. The x-ray crystallographic structure of UGL from Bacillus sp. GL1 was first determined by multiple isomorphous replacement (mir) and refined at 1.8 A resolution with a final R-factor of 16.8% for 25 to 1.8 A resolution data. The refined UGL structure consists of 377 amino acid residues and 478 water molecules, four glycine molecules, two dithiothreitol (DTT) molecules, and one 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol (MPD) molecule. UGL includes an alpha(6)/alpha(6)-barrel, whose structure is found in the six-hairpin enzyme superfamily of an alpha/alpha-toroidal fold. One side of the UGL alpha(6)/alpha(6)-barrel structure consists of long loops containing three short beta-sheets and contributes to the formation of a deep pocket. One glycine molecule and two DTT molecules surrounded by highly conserved amino acid residues in UGLs were found in the pocket, suggesting that catalytic and substrate-binding sites are located in this pocket. The overall UGL structure, with the exception of some loops, very much resembled that of the Bacillus subtilis hypothetical protein Yter, whose function is unknown and which exhibits little amino acid sequence identity with UGL. In the active pocket, residues possibly involved in substrate recognition and catalysis by UGL are conserved in UGLs and Yter. The most likely candidate catalytic residues for glycosyl hydrolysis are Asp(88) and Asp(149). This was supported by site-directed mutagenesis studies in Asp(88) and Asp(149).

Temperature-sensitive Glycosaminoglycan Biosynthesis in a Chinese Hamster Ovary Cell Mutant Containing a Point Mutation in Glucuronyltransferase I

In previous studies, we reported the isolation and characterization of a Chinese hamster ovary cell mutant (pgsG) defective in glucuronyltransferase I (GlcATI). This enzyme adds the terminal GlcA residue in the core protein-linkage tetrasaccharide (GlcAbeta1,3Galbeta1,3Galbeta1, 4Xylbeta-O-) on which glycosaminoglycan assembly occurs (Bai, X. M., Wei, G., Sinha, A., and Esko, J. D. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 13017-13024; Wei, G., Bai, X. M., Sarkar, A. K., and Esko, J. D. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 7857-7864). Here we show that incorporation of 35SO4 into glycosaminoglycans in the mutant is temperature-sensitive, with greater synthesis occurring at 33 degrees C compared with 37 degrees C. Wild-type cells show the opposite thermal dependence. Rabbit antiserum to hamster GlcATI failed to detect cross-reactive material in pgsG cells by immunofluorescence and Western blotting. Furthermore, expression of chimeric proteins composed of mutant GlcATI fused to IgG binding domain of protein A or to green fluorescent protein did not yield the proteins at the expected mass. The green fluorescent protein-tagged version appeared as a truncated protein, and immunofluorescence showed large perinuclear bodies at 30 degrees C. At 37 degrees C, the fusion protein was not readily detectable. Sequencing cDNAs from mutant and wild-type cells revealed a single base transition (G331A) in the open reading frame in pgsG cells, which resulted in a Val-111-->Met substitution. These data suggest that pgsG cells contain a labile form of GlcATI that causes conditional expression of glycosaminoglycans dependent on temperature.

Structural differentiation of uronosyl substitution patterns in acidic heteroxylans by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

The structures of two oligomers of acidic xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) of the same molecular weight (634 Da), Xyl 2MeGlcAHex and Xyl 2GlcA 2 were differentiated by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). These oligomers were present in a mixture of XOS obtained by acid hydrolysis of heteroxylans extracted from Eucalyptus globulus wood (Xyl 2MeGlcAHex) and Olea europaea olive fruit (Xyl 2GlcA 2). In the ESI-MS spectra of the XOS, ions at m/ z 657 and 652 were observed and assigned to [M + Na] + and [M + NH 4] +, respectively. The ESI-MS/MS spectrum of [M + Na] + ion of Xyl 2MeGlcAHex showed the loss of Hex residue from the reducing end followed by the loss of MeGlcA moiety. Simultaneously, the loss of a Xyl residue from either the reducing or the non-reducing ends was detected. On the other hand, the fragmentation of Xyl 2GlcA 2 occurs mainly by the loss of one and two GlcA residues or by the loss of the GlcAXyl moiety, due to the glycosidic bond cleavage between the two Xyl residues. Loss of one and two CO 2 molecules was only observed for this oligomer, where the GlcA are in vicinal Xyl residues. The ESI-MS/MS spectra of [M + NH 4] + of both oligomers showed the loss of NH 3, resulting in the protonated molecule, where the presence of ions assigned as protonated molecules of aldobiuronic acid residues, [MeGlcA − Xyl + H] + and [GlcA − Xyl + H] +, are diagnostic ions of the presence of MeGlcA and GlcA moieties in XOS. Since these structures occur in small amounts in complex acidic XOS mixtures and are very difficult, if possible, to isolate, tandem mass spectrometry revealed to be a powerful tool for the characterization of these types of substitution patterns present in heteroxylans.

Isolation and structural determination of novel sulfated hexasaccharides from squid cartilage chondroitin sulfate E that exhibits neuroregulatory activities.

Squid cartilage chondroitin sulfate E (CS-E) exhibits various biological activities, including anticoagulant activities, lymphoid regulatory activities, and neuroregulatory activities [Ueoka, C., Kaneda, N., Okazaki, I., Nadanaka, S., Muramatsu, T., and Sugahara, K. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 37407-37413]. These activities are expressed through molecular interactions with specific proteins, including heparin cofactor II, selectins, CD44, chemokines, and the heparin-binding growth factor midkine. Hence, the sugar sequence information is essential for a better understanding of the CS-E functions. Previously, several novel tetrasaccharides containing the unreported 3-O-sulfated glucuronic acid (GlcA) were isolated after digestion of squid cartilage CS-E with testicular hyaluronidase. In this study, hexasaccharides were isolated to obtain more detailed sequence information, especially around the GlcA(3-O-sulfate) residue, and were characterized by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and 500 or 600 MHz (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The findings demonstrate one tetrasulfated and five pentasulfated hexasaccharide sequences, five of them being novel. They were composed of three disaccharide building units of either A [GlcA(beta1-3)GalNAc(4-O-sulfate)], E [GlcA(beta1-3)GalNAc(4,6-O-disulfate)], K [GlcA(3-O-sulfate)(beta1-3)GalNAc(4-O-sulfate)], L [GlcA(3-O-sulfate)(beta1-3)GalNAc(6-O-sulfate)], or M [GlcA(3-O-sulfate)(beta1-3)GalNAc(4,6-O-disulfate)], forming E-A-A, M-A-A, K-L-A, E-E-A, K-K-A, and A-M-A hexasaccharide sequences. The K-L tetrasaccharide sequence is to date unreported. The isolated sequences appear to indicate the occurrence of an unreported GlcA 3-O-sulfotransferase specific for chondroitin sulfate. The obtained sequence information will be useful for investigating the structure-function relationship and biosynthesis of CS-E.

Synthesis of 3- O-sulfoglucuronyl lacto- N-neotetraose 2-aminoethyl glycoside and biotinylated neoglycoconjugates thereof

The 2-aminoethyl glycoside of pentasaccharide 3- O-sulfo-GlcA(β-1→3)Gal(β-1→4)GlcNAc(β-1→3)Gal(β-1→4)Glc(β ( 1) and its conjugates with biotin and biotinylated polyacrylic acid were synthesized as molecular probes to investigate the recognition of the HNK-1 epitope containing carbohydrates by proteins. Key steps in the first of two investigated schemes for the preparation of the target compound 1 were (a) assembling of the pentasaccharide backbone (compound 10) by glycosylation of selectively substituted allyl glycoside of the trisaccharide GlcNAc(β-1→3)Gal(β-1→4)Glc(β with glucuronyl-galactose glycosyl donor, (b) transformation of the allyl aglycon in 10 into 2-azidoethyl one (to give 11), (c) selective deprotection of the OH group at C-3 of the GlcA residue in 11 via saponification, intramolecular formation of 6,3-lacton ( 13) and its methanolysis, and (d) subsequent O-sulfation. The alternative scheme with the use of 2-azido-ethyl glycoside of the trisaccharide GlcNAc(β-1→3)Gal(β-1→4)Glc(β instead of the allyl glycoside 6 was less effective due to smaller yield at the step of pentasaccharide synthesis. Additionally to 1 the 2-aminoethyl glycosides of the oligosaccharides GlcA(β-1→3)Gal(β-1→4)GlcNAc(β-1→3)Gal(β-1→4)Glc(β, 3- O-sulfo-GlcA(β-1→3)Gal(β, and GlcA(β-1→3)Gal(β were also synthesized.

Structure of an O-acetylated acidic O-specific polysaccharide of Proteus vulgaris O46

An acidic O-specific polysaccharide was obtained by mild acid degradation of the lipopolysaccharide of Proteus vulgaris O46 and studied by chemical methods (O-deacetylation, sugar and methylation analyses, partial solvolysis) and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Solvolysis of the O-deacetylated polysaccharide with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid resulted in a α- d-Glc pNAc-(1→3)- d-GlcA disaccharide that demonstrated the usefulness of this reagent for selective cleavage of heteropolysaccharides. The following structure for the polysaccharide was established: →4)- α- d - Glcp6 Ac(1 →3)- β- d - Glcp A4Ac-(1 →3)- α- d - Glcp NAc-(1 →3)- β- d - Glcp A4Ac-(1 → where the degree of O-acetylation is ∼65% at position 6 of Glc and 80–95% at position 4 of GlcA residues.

Expression of heparan sulphate l-iduronyl 2-O-sulphotransferase in human kidney 293 cells results in increased d-glucuronyl 2-O-sulphation

Functionally important interactions between heparan sulphate and a variety of proteins depend on the precise location of O-sulphate groups. Such residues occur at C-2 of L-iduronic (IdoA) and D-glucuronic acid (GlcA) units, and at C-3 and C-6 of D-glucosamine (GlcN) units. Stable transfection of human embryonic kidney 293 cells with a cDNA encoding mouse mastocytoma IdoA 2-O-sulphotransferase resulted in an approx. 6-fold increase in O-sulphotransferase activity, compared with control cells, as determined using O-desulphated heparin as an acceptor. Structural analysis of endogenous heparan sulphate in the transfected cells, following metabolic labelling with either [(3)H]GlcN or [(35)S]sulphate, showed appreciable formation of -GlcA(2-OSO(3))-GlcNSO(3)- disaccharide units (6% of total disaccharide units; 17% of total O-sulphated disaccharide units) that were essentially absent from heparan sulphate from control cells. The increase in GlcA 2-O-sulphation was accompanied by a decrease in the amount of IdoA formed, whereas overall 2-O-sulphation or 6-O-sulphation remained largely unaffected. These findings indicate that 2-O-sulphation of IdoA and GlcA residues is catalysed by the same enzyme in heparan sulphate biosynthesis.

In Vitro Synthesis of Hyaluronan by a Single Protein Derived from Mouse HAS1 Gene and Characterization of Amino Acid Residues Essential for the Activity

HAS1 was expressed as a FLAG-tagged HAS1 fusion protein in COS-1 cells. This recombinant protein was extracted with CHAPS (3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonic acid) from the membrane fraction and purified by anti-FLAG affinity chromatography and subsequent SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A protein solubilized from the one single band on the gel was able to synthesize hyaluronan when incubated with UDP-GlcNAc and UDP-GlcA as donor substrates without any further additions. The detergent-solubilized and purified HAS1 protein, however, exhibited quite different kinetic properties from the membrane-bound protein. When assayed under the reconstitutive conditions where the reaction mixture was layered onto the buffer containing high concentration of CHAPS, the activity was enhanced and the kinetic properties became similar to those of the membrane-bound protein. In addition, a HAS1 gene product by an in vitro transcription/translation system also showed HAS1 activity under the reconstitutive conditions. To our surprise, when incubated with UDP-GlcNAc alone, the protein was found to synthesize chito-oligosaccharide. Taking advantage of these enzyme reaction properties, active sites on the protein involved in for hyaluronan and chito-oligosaccharide synthesis were characterized. Site-directed mutagenesis induced in the cytoplasmic central loop domain of the protein revealed that several amino acid residues conserved among those domains of various proteins of a HAS family were essential for both hyaluronan and chito-oligosaccharide syntheses but one of them was not for chito-oligosaccharide synthesis. The substitutions that caused partial or severe loss of the activity gave no significant changes of the K(m) values of the mutated proteins, suggesting that no conformational or other indirect changes were involved in the effect. Taken together, the results suggest that the HAS1 protein alone is able to synthesize hyaluronan and different amino acid residues on the cytoplasmic central loop domain are involved in transferring GlcNAc and GlcA residues, respectively.

Purification and characterization of fetal bovine serum beta-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminyltransferase and beta-D-glucuronyltransferase involved in chondroitin sulfate biosynthesis.

beta-N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase II and beta-glucuronyltransferase II, involved in chondroitin sulfate biosynthesis, transfer an N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and glucuronic acid (GlcA) residue, respectively, through beta-linkages to an acceptor chondroitin oligosaccharide derived from the repeating disaccharide region of chondroitin sulfate. They were copurified from fetal bovine serum approximately 2500-fold and 850-fold, respectively, by sequential chromatographies on Red A-agarose, phenyl-Sepharose, S-Sepharose and wheat germ agglutinin-agarose. Identical and inseparable chromatographic profiles of both glycosyltransferase activities obtained through the above chromatographic steps and gel filtration suggest that the purified enzyme activities are tightly coupled, which could imply a single enzyme with dual transferase activities; beta-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase and beta-glucuronyltransferase, reminiscent of the heparan sulfate polymerase reaction. However, when a polymerization reaction was performed in vitro with the purified serum enzyme preparation under the polymerization conditions recently developed for the chondroitin-synthesizing system, derived from human melanoma cells, each monosaccharide transfer took place, but no polymerization occurred. These results may suggest that the purified serum enzyme preparation contains both beta-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase II and beta-glucuronyltransferase II activities on a single polypeptide or on the respective polypeptides forming an enzyme complex, but is different from that obtained from melanoma cells in that it transfers a single GalNAc or GlcA residue but does not polymerize chondroitin.

Alpha-N-acetylgalactosamine-capping of chondroitin sulfate core region oligosaccharides primed on xylosides.

We previously reported that cultured mammalian cells incubated with 4-methylumbelliferyl (MU) or p -nitrophenyl (pNP) beta-xyloside synthesize an alpha-GalNAc-terminated pentasaccharide resembling the glycosaminoglycan-core protein linkage region. Here we show that human melanoma M21 cells and human neuroblastoma cells incubated with Xylbeta-MU/pNP also make an alpha-GalNAc-terminated heptasaccharide containing one chondroitin disaccharide repeat. High performance liquid chromatography and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry analysis of intact or glycosidase-digested xyloside showed the structure as: GalNAcalphaGlcAbeta1,3GalNAcbeta1,4GlcAbeta1,3Galbe ta1,3Galbeta1, 4Xylbeta-MU/pNP. The alpha-GalNAc-terminated xylosides can account for approximately 10% of the total Xylbeta-MU/pNP products ( approximately 1.5 nmol/h/mg). These results show that GalNAcalphaGlcAbeta-modification is relatively abundant, but not unique to the GAG-linkage tetrasaccharide. alpha-GalNAc addition to the GlcA residue does not appear to be an extension of general phase II detoxification of xenobiotics that involve glucuronidation, since M21 cells incubated with MU synthesize only 0.3 pmol GlcAbeta-MU/h/mg protein, and undetectable amount of GalNAcalphaGlcAbeta-MU (<40 fmol/h/mg). Further, subcellular fractionation shows that the alpha- N- acetylgalactosaminyltransferase activity colocalizes in the Golgi with other glycosyl transferases and not in the ER, where xenobiotic detoxification glucuronosyltransferases are found. Although GalNAcalphaGlcAbeta-terminal modification has not been detected on naturally occurring GAG chains, the substantial amount of alpha-GalNAc transferase activity suggests that the alpha-GalNAc transferase could utilize other GlcA-containing glycoconjugates as acceptors.

Biosynthesis of Chondroitin Sulfate: PURIFICATION OF GLUCURONOSYL TRANSFERASE II AND USE OF PHOTOAFFINITY LABELING FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ENZYME AS AN 80-kDa PROTEIN

A photoaffinity analogue, [beta-32P]5-azido-UDP-GlcA, was used to photolabel the enzymes that utilize UDP-GlcA in cartilage microsomes and rat liver microsomes. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of photolabeled cartilage microsomes, which are specialized in chondroitin sulfate synthesis, showed a major radiolabeled band at 80 kDa and other minor radiolabeled bands near 40 and 60 kDa. Rat liver microsomes, which are enriched for enzymes of detoxification by glucuronidation, had a different pattern with multiple major labeled bands near 50-60 and 35 kDa. To determine that the photolabeled 80-kDa protein is the GlcA transferase II, we have purified the enzyme from cartilage microsomes. This membrane-bound enzyme, involved in the transfer of GlcA residues to non-reducing terminal GalNAc residues of the chondroitin polymer, has now been solubilized, stabilized, and then purified greater than 1350-fold by sequential chromatography on Q-Sepharose, heparin-Sepharose, and WGA-agarose. The purified enzyme exhibited a conspicuous silver-stained protein band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis that coincided with the major radiolabeled band of 80 kDa. SDS-polyacrylamide gel analysis of photoaffinity-labeled active fractions from the Q-Sepharose, heparin-Sepharose, and WGA-agarose also indicated only the single radiolabeled band at 80 kDa. Intensity of photolabeling in each of the fractions examined coincided with enzyme activity. The photolabeling of this 80-kDa protein was saturable with the photoprobe and could be inhibited by the addition of UDP-GlcA prior to the addition of the photoprobe. Thus, the photolabeling with [beta-32P]5-azido-UDP-GlcA has identified the GlcA transferase II as an 80-kDa protein. The purified enzyme was capable of transferring good amounts of GlcA residues to chondroitin-derived pentasaccharide with negligible transfer to pentasaccharides derived from hyaluronan or heparan.

A novel pentasaccharide sequence GlcA(3-sulfate)(beta1-3)GalNAc(4-sulfate)(beta1-4)(Fuc alpha1-3)GlcA(beta1-3)GalNAc(4-sulfate) in the oligosaccharides isolated from king crab cartilage chondroitin sulfate K and its differential susceptibility to chondroitinases and hyaluronidase.

Novel sulfated tetrasaccharide structures containing 3-O-sulfated GlcA were isolated recently from king crab cartilage chondroitin sulfate K [Sugahara, K., Tanaka, Y., Yamada, S., Seno, N., Kitagawa, H., Haslam, S. M., Morris, H. R., & Dell, A. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 26745-26754]. In this study, we prepared a series of oligosaccharides from the same source after exhaustive digestion with testicular hyaluronidase and determined the structures of a pentasaccharide, two hexasaccharides, and two heptasaccharides by means of fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and 500-MHz 1H-NMR spectroscopy. All the oligosaccharides had the following hitherto unreported structures including a novel glucuronate 3-O-sulfate: GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)GalNAc(4S)(beta1-4)GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)GalNAc( 4S)(beta1-4)GlcA(beta1-3)GalNAc(4S), GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)GalNAc(4S)(beta1-4)GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)GalNAc( 4S)(beta1-4)GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)-GalNAc(4S), GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)GalNAc(4S)(beta1-4)(Fuc alpha1-3)GlcA(beta1-3)GalNAc(4S), GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)-GalNAc(4S)(beta1-4)(Fuc alpha1-3)GlcA(beta1-3)GalNAc(4S)(beta1-4)GlcA(beta1-3)GalNAc (4S), and GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)GalNAc(4S)(beta1-4)GlcA(3S)(beta1-3)GalNAc( 4S)(beta1-4)(Fuc alpha1-3)GlcA(beta1-3)GalNAc(4S), where 3S or 4S represent 3-O- or 4-O-sulfate, respectively. Furthermore, the three latter structures contained a novel combination of both 3-O-sulfated and 3-O-fucosylated GlcA residues. The pentasaccharide with 3-O-fucosylated GlcA at the internal position remained totally resistant to chondroitinase AC-II, whereas it was degraded by chondroitinase ABC into a disaccharide unit containing GlcA(3S) derived from the nonreducing side and a trisaccharide unit containing fucose from the reducing side.

Regulation of chondroitin sulfate biosynthesis by specific sulfation: acceptor specificity of serum beta-GalNAc transferase revealed by structurally defined oligosaccharides.

The relationship between sulfation and polymerization in chondroitin sulfate (CS) biosynthesis has been poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the specificity of bovine serum UDP-GalNAc: CS beta-GalNAc transferase responsible for chain elongation using structurally defined acceptor substrates. They consisted of tetra- and hexasaccharide-serines that were chemically synthesized and various regular oligosaccharides with a GlcA residue at the nonreducing terminus, prepared from chondroitin and CS using testicular hyaluronidase. The enzyme preparation was obtained from fetal bovine serum by means of heparin-Sepharose affinity chromatography. The preparation did not contain the alpha-GalNAc transferase recently demonstrated in fetal bovine serum (Kitagawa et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270, 22190-22195, 1995), that utilizes common acceptor substrates. The beta-GalNAc transferase used as acceptors, two hexasaccharide-serines GlcA beta 1-3GalNAc beta 1-4GlcA beta 1-3Gal beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Xyl beta 1-O-Ser and GlcA beta 1-3GalNAc(4-sulfate) beta 1-4GlcA beta 1-3Gal (4-sulfate) beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Xyl beta 1-O-Ser, but neither the monosulfated hexasaccharide-serine GlcA beta 1-3GalNAc(4-sulfate) beta 1-4GlcA beta 1-3Gal beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Xyl beta 1-O-Ser nor tetrasaccharide-serines with or without a sulfate group at C-4 of the third sugar residue Gal-3 from the reducing end. The results indicated that the sulfate group at the Gal-3 C-4 markedly affected the transfer of GalNAc to the terminal GlcA. In addition, a sulfate group at C-4 of the reducing terminal GalNAc of regular tetrasaccharides remarkably enhanced the GalNAc transfer, suggesting that the enzyme recognizes up to the fourth saccharide residue from the nonreducing end. The level of incorporation into a tetra- or hexasaccharide containing a terminal 2-O-sulfated GlcA residue was significant, whereas there was no apparent incorporation into tetra- or hexasaccharides containing a terminal 3-O-sulfated GlcA or penultimate 4,6-O-disulfated GalNAc residue. These results indicated that sulfation reactions play important roles in chain elongation and termination.

Polydispersity in sulfation profile of oligosaccharide alditols isolated from the protein-linkage region and the repeating disaccharide region of chondroitin 4-sulfate of bovine nasal septal cartilage.

Proteoglycans of bovine nasal septal cartilage bear predominantly chondroitin 4-sulfate. After exhaustive chondroitinase ABC digestion of a chondromucoprotein preparation rich in proteoglycans and subsequent reductive beta-elimination, five hexasaccharide alditols were isolated from the glycosaminoglycan-protein linkage region. They were analyzed by enzymatic digestion in conjunction with HPLC and by one-dimensional and two-dimensional 1H-NMR spectroscopy. They share the conventional core saccharide structure delta 4.5HexA alpha 1-3GalNAc beta 1-4GlcA beta 1-3Gal beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4Xyl-ol (where delta 4.5HexA is 4,5-unsaturated hexuronic acid), but have different sulfation profiles. One compound (I) does not contain sulfate. Two of the three monosulfated compounds (II and III) have an O-sulfate group at either C6 or at C4 of the GalNAc residue. The other monosulfated compound (IV) is hitherto unreported and has a O-sulfate at C4 of the Gal residue preceding the GlcA residue, whereas the GalNAc is not sulfated. The disulfated compound (V) has sulfate groups at C4 of both the Gal residue preceding GlcA and the GalNAc residue. The molar ratio of compounds I-V is 38.3:5.9:43.0:1.6:11.2. The structural heterogeneity of these hexasaccharide alditols reflects the polydispersity in the linkage region of the chondroitin sulfate chains. In addition, two trisaccharide and two tetrasaccharide alditols derived from the repeating disaccharide region of the chondroitin sulfate chains were also isolated. Their structures were unambiguously determined by enzymatic analysis and by 1H-NMR spectroscopy as delta 4.5HexA alpha 1-3GalNAc(4-O- or 6-O-sulfate)beta 1-4GlcA-ol and delta 4.5HexA alpha 1-3GalNAc(4-O- or 6-O-sulfate) beta 1-4GlcA beta 1-3GalNAc(4-O-sulfate)-ol, respectively.