In plants, the only known outer-chain elongation of complex N-glycans is the formation of Lewis a [Fuca1-4(Galb1-3) GlcNAc-R] structures. This process involves the sequential attachment of b1,3-galactose and a1,4-fucose residues by b1,3-galactosyltransferase and a1,4-fucosyltransferase. However, the exact mechanism underlying the formation of Lewis a epitopes in plants is poorly understood, largely because one of the involved enzymes, b1,3-galactosyltransferase, has not yet been identified and characterized. Here, we report the identification of an Arabidopsis thaliana b1,3-galactosyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of the Lewis a epitope using an expression cloning strategy. Overexpression of various candidates led to the identification of a single gene (named GALACTOSYLTRANSFERASE1 [GALT1]) that increased the originally very low Lewis a epitope levels in planta. Recombinant GALT1 protein produced in insect cells was capable of transferring b1,3-linked galactose residues to various N-glycan acceptor substrates, and subsequent treatment of the reaction products with a1,4-fucosyltransferase resulted in the generation of Lewis a structures. Furthermore, transgenic Arabidopsis plants lacking a functional GALT1 mRNA did not show any detectable amounts of Lewis a epitopes on endogenous glycoproteins. Taken together, our results demonstrate that GALT1 is both sufficient and essential for the addition of b1,3-linked galactose residues to N-glycans and thus is required for the biosynthesis of Lewis a structures in Arabidopsis. Moreover, cell biological characterization of a transiently expressed GALT1-fluorescent protein fusion using confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed the exclusive location of GALT1 within the Golgi apparatus, which is in good agreement with the proposed physiological action of the enzyme.

Many therapeutic proteins are glycosylated and require terminal sialylation to attain full biological activity. Current manufacturing methods based on mammalian cell culture allow only limited control of this important posttranslational modification, which may lead to the generation of products with low efficacy. Here we report in vivo protein sialylation in plants, which have been shown to be well suited for the efficient generation of complex mammalian glycoproteins. This was achieved by the introduction of an entire mammalian biosynthetic pathway in Nicotiana benthamiana, comprising the coordinated expression of the genes for (i) biosynthesis, (ii) activation, (iii) transport, and (iv) transfer of Neu5Ac to terminal galactose. We show the transient overexpression and functional integrity of six mammalian proteins that act at various stages of the biosynthetic pathway and demonstrate their correct subcellular localization. Co-expression of these genes with a therapeutic glycoprotein, a human monoclonal antibody, resulted in quantitative sialylation of the Fc domain. Sialylation was at great uniformity when glycosylation mutants that lack plant-specific N-glycan residues were used as expression hosts. Finally, we demonstrate efficient neutralization activity of the sialylated monoclonal antibody, indicating full functional integrity of the reporter protein. We report for the first time the incorporation of the entire biosynthetic pathway for protein sialylation in a multicellular organism naturally lacking sialylated glycoconjugates. Besides the biotechnological impact of the achievement, this work may serve as a general model for the manipulation of complex traits into plants.

Most processed, e.g. fucosylated, N-glycans on insect glycoproteins terminate in mannose, yet the relevant modifying enzymes require the prior action of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I. This led to the hypothesis that a hexosaminidase acts during the course of N-glycan maturation. To determine whether the Drosophila melanogaster genome indeed encodes such an enzyme, a cDNA corresponding to fused lobes (fdl), a putative ␤-N-acetylglucosaminidase with a potential transmembrane domain, was cloned. When expressed in Pichia pastoris, the enzyme exhibited a substrate specificity similar to that previously described for a hexosaminidase activity from Sf-9 cells, i.e. it hydrolyzed exclusively the GlcNAc residue attached to the ␣1,3-linked mannose of the core pentasaccharide of N-glycans. It also hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl-N-acetyl-␤-glucosaminide, but not chitooligosaccharides; in contrast, Drosophila HEXO1 and HEXO2 expressed in Pichia cleaved both these substrates but not N-glycans. The localization of recombinant FDL tagged with green fluorescent protein in Drosophila S2 cells by immunoelectron microscopy showed that this enzyme transits through the Golgi, is present on the plasma membrane and in multivesicular bodies, and is secreted. Finally, the N-glycans of two lines of fdl mutant flies were analyzed by mass spectrometry and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The ratio of structures with terminal GlcNAc over those without (i.e. paucimannosidic N-glycans) was drastically increased in the fdldeficient flies. Therefore, we conclude that the fdl gene encodes a novel hexosaminidase responsible for the occurrence of paucimannosidic N-glycans in Drosophila.Insect cells are considered to be an interesting alternative to mammalian, yeast, or bacterial cells for the expression of recombinant proteins (1, 2), because the potentially high levels of expression are associated with the ability to perform many eukaryotic post-translational modifications. Nevertheless, glycoproteins produced in insects and insect cells have been mainly found to carry paucimannosidic N-glycans, i.e. glycans consisting of the pentasaccharide core with or without ␣1,6-and/or ␣1,3-linked fucose (1, 3-5). In addition to the possible presence of the immunogenic core ␣1,3-linked fucose, the lack of complex type N-glycans with complete, sialylated antennae as found on mammalian glycoproteins makes insect cells unsuitable for the production of many therapeutic glycoproteins (6).Only in a few cases have substitutions of the terminal mannose residues of insect N-glycans been described. The most common substitution is the presence of terminal GlcNAc on the ␣1,3-linked mannosyl residue (GlcNAc-1) 3 added by GlcNAc-transferase I, although in a few cases further modifications such as galactose, N-acetylgalactosamine, fucose, and aminoethylphosphonate (i.e. phosphorylethanolamine) have been found linked to this GlcNAc residue (7-11). The occurrence of larger and sialylated N-glycans has been reviewed elsewhere (1, 4). In most instances, howe...

Art v 1, the major allergen of mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) pollen contains galactose and arabinose. As the sera of some allergic patients react with natural but not with recombinant Art v 1 produced in bacteria, the glycosylation of Art v 1 may play a role in IgE binding and human allergic reactions. Chemical and enzymatic degradation, mass spectrometry, and 800 MHz 1 H and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy indicated the proline-rich domain to be glycosylated in two ways. We found a large hydroxyproline-linked arabinogalactan composed of a short ␤1,6-galactan core, which is substituted by a variable number (5-28) of ␣-arabinofuranose residues, which form branched side chains with 5-, 2,5-, 3,5-, and 2,3,5-substituted arabinoses. Thus, the design of the Art v 1 polysaccharide differs from that of the well known type II arabinogalactans, and we suggest it be named type III arabinogalactan. The other type of glycosylation was formed by single (but adjacent) ␤-arabinofuranoses linked to hydroxyproline. In contrast to the arabinosylation of Ser-Hyp 4 motifs in other hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins, such as extensins or solanaceous lectins, no oligo-arabinosides were found in Art v 1. Art v 1 and parts thereof produced by alkaline degradation, chemical deglycosylation, proteolytic degradation, and/or digestion with ␣-arabinofuranosidase were used in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblot experiments with rabbit serum and with the sera of patients. Although we could not observe antibody binding by the polysaccharide, the single hydroxyproline-linked ␤-arabinose residues appeared to react with the antibodies. Mono-␤-arabinosylated hydroxyproline residues thus constitute a new, potentially cross-reactive, carbohydrate determinant in plant proteins.

We examined the analysis of nucleotides and nucleotide sugars by chromatography on porous graphitic carbon with mass spectrometric detection, a method that evades contamination of the MS instrument with ion pairing reagent. At first, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and other triphosphate nucleotides exhibited very poor chromatographic behavior on new columns and could hardly be eluted from columns previously cleaned with trifluoroacetic acid. Satisfactory performance of both new and older columns could, however, be achieved by treatment with reducing agent and, unexpectedly, hydrochloric acid. Over 40 nucleotides could be detected in cell extracts including many isobaric compounds such as ATP, deoxyguanosine diphosphate (dGTP), and phospho-adenosine-5′-phosphosulfate or 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) and its much more abundant isomer 2′,3′-cylic AMP. A fast sample preparation procedure based on solid-phase extraction on carbon allowed detection of very short-lived analytes such as cytidine 5'-monophosphate (CMP)-2-keto-deoxy-octulosonic acid. In animal cells and plant tissues, about 35 nucleotide sugars were detected, among them rarely considered metabolites such as uridine 5'-diphosphate (UDP)-l-arabinopyranose, UDP-l-arabinofuranose, guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-l-galactofuranose, UDP-l-rhamnose, and adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-sugars. Surprisingly, UDP-arabinopyranose was also found in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Due to the unique structural selectivity of graphitic carbon, the method described herein distinguishes more nucleotides and nucleotide sugars than previously reported approaches.