Trypanosoma cruzi calreticulin is a lectin that binds monoglucosylated oligosaccharides but not protein moieties of glycoproteins. (1/366)

Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that belongs to an early branch in evolution. Although it lacks several features of the pathway of protein N-glycosylation and oligosaccharide processing present in the endoplasmic reticulum of higher eukaryotes, it displays UDP-Glc:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase and glucosidase II activities. It is herewith reported that this protozoan also expresses a calreticulin-like molecule, the third component of the quality control of glycoprotein folding. No calnexin-encoding gene was detected. Recombinant T. cruzi calreticulin specifically recognized free monoglucosylated high-mannose-type oligosaccharides. Addition of anti-calreticulin serum to extracts obtained from cells pulse-chased with [35S]Met plus [35S]Cys immunoprecipitated two proteins that were identified as calreticulin and the lysosomal proteinase cruzipain (a major soluble glycoprotein). The latter but not the former protein disappeared from immunoprecipitates upon chasing cells. Contrary to what happens in mammalian cells, addition of the glucosidase II inhibitor 1-deoxynojirimycin promoted calreticulin-cruzipain interaction. This result is consistent with the known pathway of protein N-glycosylation and oligosaccharide processing occurring in T. cruzi. A treatment of the calreticulin-cruzipain complexes with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H either before or after addition of anti-calreticulin serum completely disrupted calreticulin-cruzipain interaction. In addition, mature monoglucosylated but not unglucosylated cruzipain isolated from lysosomes was found to interact with recombinant calreticulin. It was concluded that the quality control of glycoprotein folding appeared early in evolution, and that T. cruzi calreticulin binds monoglucosylated oligosaccharides but not the protein moiety of cruzipain. Furthermore, evidence is presented indicating that glucosyltransferase glucosylated cruzipain at its last folding stages.  (+info)

Delayed symptom onset and increased life expectancy in Sandhoff disease mice treated with N-butyldeoxynojirimycin. (2/366)

Sandhoff disease is a neurodegenerative disorder resulting from the autosomal recessive inheritance of mutations in the HEXB gene, which encodes the beta-subunit of beta-hexosaminidase. GM2 ganglioside fails to be degraded and accumulates within lysosomes in cells of the periphery and the central nervous system (CNS). There are currently no therapies for the glycosphingolipid lysosomal storage diseases that involve CNS pathology, including the GM2 gangliosidoses. One strategy for treating this and related diseases is substrate deprivation. This would utilize an inhibitor of glycosphingolipid biosynthesis to balance synthesis with the impaired rate of catabolism, thus preventing storage. One such inhibitor is N-butyldeoxynojirimycin, which currently is in clinical trials for the potential treatment of type 1 Gaucher disease, a related disease that involves glycosphingolipid storage in peripheral tissues, but not in the CNS. In this study, we have evaluated whether this drug also could be applied to the treatment of diseases with CNS storage and pathology. We therefore have treated a mouse model of Sandhoff disease with the inhibitor N-butyldeoxynojirimycin. The treated mice have delayed symptom onset, reduced storage in the brain and peripheral tissues, and increased life expectancy. Substrate deprivation therefore offers a potentially general therapy for this family of lysosomal storage diseases, including those with CNS disease.  (+info)

Cellobiose transport by mixed ruminal bacteria from a Cow. (3/366)

The transport of cellobiose in mixed ruminal bacteria harvested from a holstein cow fed an Italian ryegrass hay was determined in the presence of nojirimycin-1-sulfate, which almost inhibited cellobiase activity. The kinetic parameters of cellobiose uptake were 14 microM for the Km and 10 nmol/min/mg of protein for the Vmax. Extracellular and cell-associated cellobiases were detected in the rumen, with both showing higher Vmax values and lower affinities than those determined for cellobiose transport. The proportion of cellobiose that was directly transported before it was extracellularly degraded into glucose increased as the cellobiose concentration decreased, reaching more than 20% at the actually observed levels of cellobiose in the rumen, which were less than 0.02 mM. The inhibitor experiment showed that cellobiose was incorporated into the cells mainly by the phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system and partially by an ATP-dependent and proton-motive-force-independent active transport system. This finding was also supported by determinations of phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase-dependent NADH oxidation with cellobiose and the effects of artificial potentials on cellobiose transport. Cellobiose uptake was sensitive to a decrease in pH (especially below 6.0), and it was weakly but significantly inhibited in the presence of glucose.  (+info)

Molecular chaperones stimulate the functional expression of the cocaine-sensitive serotonin transporter. (4/366)

The serotonin transporter (SERT) is an N-glycosylated integral membrane protein that is predicted to contain 12 transmembrane regions. SERT is the major binding site in the brain for antidepressant drugs, and it also binds amphetamines and cocaine. The ability of various molecular chaperones to interact with a tagged version of SERT (Myc-SERT) was investigated using the baculovirus expression system. Overexpression of Myc-SERT using the baculovirus system led to substantial quantities of inactive transporter, together with small amounts of fully active and, therefore, correctly folded molecules. The high levels of inactive Myc-SERT probably arose because folding was rate-limiting due, perhaps, to insufficient molecular chaperones. Therefore, Myc-SERT was co-expressed with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) molecular chaperones calnexin, calreticulin and immunoglobulin heavy chain binding protein (BiP), and the foldase, ERp57. The expression of functional Myc-SERT, as determined by an inhibitor binding assay, was enhanced nearly 3-fold by co-expressing calnexin, and to a lesser degree on co-expression of calreticulin and BiP. Co-expression of ERp57 did not increase the functional expression of Myc-SERT. A physical interaction between Myc-SERT-calnexin and Myc-SERT-calreticulin was demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation. These associations were inhibited in vivo by deoxynojirimycin, an inhibitor of N-glycan precusor trimming that is known to prevent the calnexin/calreticulin-N-glycan interaction. Functional expression of the unglycosylated SERT mutant, SERT-QQ, was also increased on co-expression of calnexin, suggesting that the interaction between calnexin and SERT is not entirely dictated by the N-glycan. SERT is the first member of the neurotransmitter transporter family whose folding has been shown to be assisted by the molecular chaperones calnexin, calreticulin, and BiP.  (+info)

Temporal association of the N- and O-linked glycosylation events and their implication in the polarized sorting of intestinal brush border sucrase-isomaltase, aminopeptidase N, and dipeptidyl peptidase IV. (5/366)

The temporal association between O-glycosylation and processing of N-linked glycans in the Golgi apparatus as well as the implication of these events in the polarized sorting of three brush border proteins has been the subject of the current investigation. O-Glycosylation of pro-sucrase-isomaltase (pro-SI), aminopeptidase N (ApN), and dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) is drastically reduced when processing of the mannose-rich N-linked glycans is blocked by deoxymannojirimycin, an inhibitor of the Golgi-located mannosidase I. By contrast, O-glycosylation is not affected in the presence of swainsonine, an inhibitor of Golgi mannosidase II. The results indicate that removal of the outermost mannose residues by mannosidase I from the mannose-rich N-linked glycans is required before O-glycosylation can ensue. On the other hand, subsequent mannose residues in the core chain impose no sterical constraints on the progression of O-glycosylation. Reduction or modification of N- and O-glycosylation do not affect the transport of pro-SI, ApN, or DPPIV to the cell surface per se. However, the polarized sorting of two of these proteins, pro-SI and DPPIV, to the apical membrane is substantially altered when O-glycans are not completely processed, while the sorting of ApN is not affected. The processing of N-linked glycans, on the other hand, has no influence on sorting of all three proteins. The results indicate that O-linked carbohydrates are at least a part of the sorting mechanism of pro-SI and DPPIV. The sorting of ApN implicates neither O-linked nor N-linked glycans and is driven most likely by carbohydrate-independent mechanisms.  (+info)

VIP36 localisation to the early secretory pathway. (6/366)

VIP36, an integral membrane protein previously isolated from epithelial MDCK cells, is an intracellular lectin of the secretory pathway. Overexpressed VIP36 had been localised to the Golgi complex, plasma membrane and endocytic structures suggesting post-Golgi trafficking of this molecule (Fiedler et al., 1994). Here we provide evidence that endogenous VIP36 is localised to the Golgi apparatus and the early secretory pathway of MDCK and Vero cells and propose that retention is easily saturated. High resolution confocal microscopy shows partial overlap of VIP36 with Golgi marker proteins. Punctate cytoplasmic structures colocalise with coatomer and ERGIC-53, labeling ER-Golgi intermediate membrane structures. Cycling of VIP36 is suggested by colocalisation with anterograde cargo trapped in pre-Golgi structures and modification of its N-linked carbohydrate by glycosylation enzymes of medial Golgi cisternae. Furthermore, after brefeldin A treatment VIP36 is segregated from resident Golgi proteins and codistributes with ER-Golgi recycling proteins.  (+info)

Effects of N-butyldeoxynojirimycin and the Lec3.2.8.1 mutant phenotype on N-glycan processing in Chinese hamster ovary cells: application to glycoprotein crystallization. (7/366)

Heterologous gene expression in either (1) the glycosylation-defective, mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell line, Lec3.2.8.1, or (2) the presence of the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, N-butyldeoxynojirimycin facilitates the trimming of N-linked glycans of glycoproteins to single N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residues with endoglycosidase H (endo H). Both approaches are somewhat inefficient, however, with as little as 12% of the total protein being rendered fully endo H-sensitive under these conditions. It is shown here that the combined effects of these approaches on the restriction of oligosaccharide processing are essentially additive, thereby allowing the production of glycoproteins that are essentially completely endo H-sensitive. The preparation of a soluble chimeric form of CD58, the ligand of the human T-cell surface recognition molecule CD2, illustrates the usefulness of the combined approach when expression levels are low or the deglycosylated protein is unstable at low pH. The endo H-treated chimera produced crystals of space group P3(1)21 or P3(2)21, and unit cell dimensions a = b = 116.4 A, c = 51.4 A alpha = beta = 90 degrees , gamma = 120 degrees , that diffract to a maximum resolution of 1.8 A.  (+info)

High-mannose type oligosaccharide-dependent apoptosis in U937 cells induced by pradimicin, a mannose-binding antibiotic. (8/366)

Cell surface oligosaccharides play a role in a variety of biological events such as cell adhesion and signal transduction. We have shown that BMY-28864, a semi-synthetic analog of pradimicin, induced apoptosis of U937 cells which had been incubated with 1-deoxymannojirimycin, an inhibitor of mannosidase I. BMY-28864 was not cytotoxic to the cells which had been cultivated with other glycosidase inhibitors such as castanospermine and swainsonine. We thus propose that BMY-28864 induces apoptosis by acting on a specific mannose-rich oligosaccharide, presumably (Man)9(GlcNAc)2+.  (+info)