We have cloned the cDNA encoding human GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase, the first enzyme in the pathway converting GDP-mannose to GDP-fucose. The message is expressed in all tissues and cell lines examined, and the cDNA complements Lec13, a Chinese Hamster Ovary cell line deficient in GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase activity. The human GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase polypeptide shares 61% identity with the enzyme from Escherichia coli, suggesting broad evolutionary conservation. Purified recombinant enzyme utilizes NADP ؉ as a cofactor and, like its E. coli counterpart, is inhibited by GDPfucose, suggesting that this aspect of regulation is also conserved. We have isolated the product of the dehydratase reaction, GDP-4-keto-6-deoxymannose, and confirmed its structure by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry and high field NMR. Using purified recombinant human GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase and FX protein (GDP-keto-6-deoxymannose 3,5-epimerase, 4-reductase), we show that the two proteins alone are sufficient to convert GDP-mannose to GDP-fucose in vitro. This unequivocally demonstrates that the epimerase and reductase activities are on a single polypeptide. Finally, we show that the two homologous enzymes from E. coli are sufficient to carry out the same enzymatic pathway in bacteria.Fucose is found as a component of glycoconjugates such as glycoproteins and glycolipids in a wide range of species from humans to bacteria. For example, fucose is a component of the capsular polysaccharides and antigenic determinants of bacteria, while in mammals fucose is present in many glycoconjugates, the most widely known being the human blood group antigens. Fucose-containing glycoconjugates have been implicated as playing key roles in embryonic development in the mouse (1) and more recently in the regulation of the immune response, specifically as a crucial component of the selectin ligand sialyl Lewis X (reviewed in Refs. 1 and 2). In all cases, fucose is transferred from GDP-fucose to glycoconjugate acceptors by specific transferases. Thus, defects in GDP-fucose biosynthesis will affect all fucosylation within the cell. Recently, individuals deficient in the biosynthesis of GDP-fucose have been identified (3, 4) and suffer from the immune disorder leukocyte adhesion deficiency type II (LADII).1 These patients fail to synthesize fucosylated blood groups, and their leukocytes do not express the fucose containing carbohydrate sialyl Lewis X. The patient's leukocytes do not extravasate normally, which leads to recurrent infections.In his pioneering work in the early 1960s, Ginsberg (5, 6) elucidated the enzymatic pathway converting GDP-mannose to GDP-fucose. Later, Yurchenco and Atkinson (7) showed that this was the primary biosynthetic route to GDP-fucose. As shown in Fig. 1, GDP-mannose is converted to GDP-fucose by GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase via the oxidation of mannose at C-4 followed by the reduction of C-6 to a methyl group, yielding GDP-4-keto-6-deoxymannose. The reaction has been reported to proceed with transfer of a hydride fro...

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This laboratory has previously identified a human gene encoding N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (GlcNAc-TI; EC 2.4.1.101) by complementation of the glycosylation defect in the Lec1 Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutant. A phage lambda library prepared from genomic DNA of a tertiary Lec1 transfectant (3 degrees T) has now been used to obtain clones encoding an active GlcNAc-TI enzyme. A small genomic DNA fragment [approximately 4.6 kilobases (kb)], isolated from an Alupositive lambda clone, conferred human GlcNAc-TI activity upon transfection into Lec1 cells. An approximately 1.3-kb probe generated from this DNA fragment detected unique but distinct DNA fragments in human and CHO genomic DNA. The probe also hybridized to a poly(A)+ RNA of approximately 2.7 kb in human and CHO cells and allowed the isolation of a full-length cDNA encoding human GlcNAc-TI activity. The overall features of the cDNA and deduced protein sequence (445 amino acids) are typical of other Golgi transferases that are type II transmembrane proteins. Northern blot analysis with the same probe showed that Lec1 mutant cells also possessed an approximately 2.7-kb poly(A)+ RNA, indicating that the lec1 mutation is a point mutation.

Improved strategies for synthesis make it possible to expand the range of glycopeptides available for detailed conformational studies. The glycopeptide 1 was synthesized using a new solid phase synthesis of carbohydrates and a convergent coupling to peptide followed by deprotection. Its conformational properties were subjected to NMR analysis and compared with a control peptide 2 prepared by conventional solid phase methods. Whereas peptide 2 fails to manifest any appreciable secondary structure, the glycopeptide 1 does show considerable conformational bias suggestive of an equilibrium between an ordered and a random state. The implications of this ordering effect for the larger issue of protein folding are considered.Although glycosylation of many natural products is a widespread phenomenon, the consequences of this modification on the molecular properties of proteins are not well understood. An intriguing possibility is that glycosylation of the protein effects the conformation of the nascent chain and influences its rate of folding (1-3). In spite of this and many other outstanding issues pertaining to glycosylated species, studies have been relatively few due to the limited availability of suitable material and model compounds. Some relief is now being realized with improvements in methodology for synthesis of oligosaccharides and glycopeptides (4-11). For instance, access to the glycopeptide 1 studied here (vide infra) is a consequence of these advances (12). Its pentapeptide segment was designed to incorporate the Asn-Xxx-Thr consensus sequence for N-glycosylation, and a trisaccharide was linked through the side chain amide of the asparagine residue to the peptide.A detailed picture of the organization of a pendant oligosaccharide on a fully folded protein in solution has been obtained from the recent study of the glycosylated CD2 protein (13). However, in trying to determine the extent to which glycosylation influences early stages of the protein folding process, glycopeptides provide more appropriate models since the conformation of the system is not dominated by the overall fold of the ultimately organized protein structure. Some recent studies on glycopeptides have provided insights into potential conformational consequences of glycosylation for both .In the case of O-linked glycopeptides (14,15,20), NMR studies have shown that the peptide backbone responds to glycosylation, as evidenced by changes in sequential amideamide nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) interactions. The response is further modulated by whether the sugar component is a mono-or disaccharide. Direct evidence for local interaction between sugar and peptide backbone has been indicated by the existence of an NOE crosspeak between the amide proton of the N-acetylglucosamine attached to the O-linked residue and the backbone amide of the threonine to which the sugar was attached (14). In the case of N-linked species in aqueous solution, fluorescence energy transfer and NMR studies support the notion of a change in the distribution of ...

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Locked nucleic acid (LNA), a recently introduced nucleic acid analogue with a bicyclic 2A-O,4A-C-methylene linked furanose sugar, exhibits enhanced affinities for DNA and RNA relative to the corresponding oligodeoxyribonucleotides and oligoribonucleotides; we report the first crystal structure of an LNA unit incorporated in an oligonucleotide duplex. The structure at 1.4 Å resolution of the DNA-LNA decamer duplex with one LNA thymine monomer per strand provides a detailed view of the conformation and hydration of locked nucleic acid residues in a duplex A-form.

Here, we present the formation of a fully addressable DNA nanostructure that shows the potential to be exploited as, for example, an information storage device based on pH-driven triplex strand formation or nanoscale circuits based on electron transfer. The nanostructure is composed of two adjacent hexagonal unit cells (analogous to naphthalene) in which each of the eleven edges has a unique double-stranded DNA sequence, constructed using novel three-way oligonucleotides. This allows each ten base-pair side, just 3.4 nm in length, to be assigned a specific address according to its sequence. Such constructs are therefore an ideal precursor to a nonrepetitive two-dimensional grid on which the "addresses" are located at a precise and known position. Triplex recognition of these addresses could function as a simple yet efficient means of information storage and retrieval. Future applications that may be envisaged include nanoscale circuits as well as subnanometer precision in nanoparticle templating. Characterization of these precursor nanostructures and their reversible targeting by triplex strand formation is shown here using gel electrophoresis, atomic force microscopy, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements. The durability of the system to repeated cycling of pH switching is also confirmed by the FRET studies.

P 2 Y 12 receptor is a G i -coupled adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor with a critical role in platelet aggregation. It contains two potential N-linked glycosylation sites at its extra cellular amino-terminus, which may modulate its activity. Studies of both tunicamycin treatment and site-directed mutagenesis have revealed a dispensable role of the N-linked glycosylation in the receptor's surface expression and ligand binding activity. However, the non-glycosylated P 2 Y 12 receptor is defective in the P 2 Y 12 -mediated inhibition of the adenylyl cyclase activity. Thus the study uncovers an unexpected vital role of N-linked glycans in receptor's signal transducing step but not in surface expression or ligand binding. ß 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.