Exploring the substrate specificities of alpha-2,6- and alpha-2,3-sialyltransferases using synthetic acceptor analogues.

The acceptor specificities of rat liver Gal(beta 1-4)GlcNAc alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase, recombinant full-length human liver Gal(beta 1-4)GlcNAc alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase, and a soluble form of recombinant rat liver Gal(beta 1-3/4)GlcNAc alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase were studied with a panel of analogues of the trisaccharide Gal(beta 1-4)GlcNAc(beta 1-2)Man(alpha 1-O)(CH2)7CH3. These analogues contain structural variants of D-galactose, modified at either C3, C4 or C5 by deoxygenation, fluorination, O-methylation, epimerization, or by the introduction of an amino group. In addition, the enantiomer of D-galactose is included. The alpha-2,6-sialyltransferases tolerated most of the modifications at the galactose residue to some extent, whereas the alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase displayed a narrower specificity. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed in order to correlate enzymatic activity to three-dimensional structure. Ineffective acceptors for rat liver alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase were shown to be inhibitory towards the enzyme; likewise, the alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase was found to be inhibited by all non-substrates. Modified sialyloligosaccharides were obtained on a milligram scale by incubation of effective acceptors with one of each of the three enzymes, and characterized by 500-MHz 1H-NMR spectroscopy.

Large-scale production of a soluble human beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression system.

We report in this communication the first large-scale heterologous expression of a glycosyltransferase in yeast. A soluble form of a human beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.38) was expressed using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression system. Fermentation technology afforded the means to increase the expression level of the beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase up to a concentration of 700 mU/liter. The enzyme was produced at a scale of 200 units. The recombinant soluble enzyme was purified 766-fold to a specific activity of approx. 2 U/mg using a purification protocol based on sequential affinity chromatography on N-acetylglucosaminyl- and alpha-lactalbumin-Sepharose, respectively. This study demonstrates that heterologous expression of a glycosyltransferase is possible on a large scale and offers an alternative to natural sources like human breast milk or bovine colostrum.

Expression of soluble active human beta 1,4 galactosyltransferase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Sequences coding for the cytoplasmic and transmembrane domains were removed from the cDNA of the human Golgi resident membrane protein beta 1,4 galactosyltransferase (gal-T). The remaining sequences coding for the stem and catalytical domains of this glycosyltransferase were fused to sequences coding for the yeast invertase signal sequence. The hybrid was inserted together with a constitutive yeast promoter and a terminator into a E. coli/yeast shuttle vector. Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain BT150 transformed with this new expression vector expressed enzymically active soluble enzyme, whereas no activity was detectable in mock-transformed yeasts. The enzyme product was identified by HPLC analysis and shown to correspond to the expected product N-acetyllactosamine.

Human beta 1,4 galactosyltransferase and alpha 2,6 sialyltransferase expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are retained as active enzymes in the endoplasmic reticulum.

Biosynthesis and intracellular transport of recombinant human full-length beta 1,4 galactosyltransferase (GT) and full-length alpha 2,6 sialyltransferase (ST) were investigated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Recently, enzymic activity of recombinant GT (rGT) in crude homogenates of S. cerevisiae could successfully be demonstrated [Krezdorn, C., Watzele, G., Kleene, R. B., Ivanov, S. X. & Berger, E. G. (1993) Eur. J. Biochem. 212, 113-120]. In the present work, we show that, in yeast strains transformed with plasmid pDPSIA containing the cDNA coding for human ST, rST enzymic activity using asialo-fetuin or N-acetyllactosamine as acceptor substrates could readily be detected. Analysis by 1H-NMR spectroscopy of the disaccharide product of rGT, as recently reported, and the trisaccharide product of rST demonstrated that only the expected glycosidic linkages were formed. Following mechanical disruption of yeast cells, both enzymes sedimented with a fraction enriched in membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and were activated by Triton X-100 3-5-fold. rGT and rST could be immunoprecipitated from their [35S]Met-labelled transformed yeast extracts using polyclonal antibodies raised against fusion proteins consisting of beta-galactosidase-GT or beta-galactosidase-ST, respectively, expressed in Escherichia coli. For rGT a single glycosylated form of apparent molecular mass 48 kDa was reported, but for rST two main bands corresponding to apparent molecular masses of 48 kDa and 44 kDa, respectively, were detected. Immunoprecipitation from either tunicamycin-treated [35S]Met-labelled transformed yeast cells or labelling with radio-active sugars both indicated that the 44-kDa form of rST was non-glycosylated and that the 48-kDa form of rST was core N-glycosylated. In addition, core glycosylation of both recombinant enzymes demonstrated that they were competent for translocation across the ER membranes. However, the 44-kDa form of rST was converted to the 48-kDa glycosylated form only slowly, suggesting a mechanism of posttranslational translocation. Absence of hyperglycosylation of rST and rGT in wild type and lack of the Golgi-specific man-alpha 1,6-man epitope suggest that the recombinant enzymes did not enter the yeast Golgi apparatus. These results indicated that both rGT and rST are retained as enzymically active enzymes in the ER of yeast and suggest a ribonucleoprotein-independent import of rST into the ER.

Purification and characterization of recombinant human beta 1-4 galactosyltransferase expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A protease-defective strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (BT 150) was used to express full-length cDNA of HeLa cell beta-D-N-acetylglucosaminide-beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase (gal-T). To ascertain import of the recombinant gal-T into the secretory pathway of yeast cells, metabolically labeled enzyme was immunoprecipitated from extracts of yeast transformants, analysed by SDS/PAGE/fluorography and tested for sensitivity to treatment with endoglycosidase-H. Untreated recombinant gal-T had an apparent molecular mass of 48 kDa, which was reduced to 47 kDa after treatment, indicating that the recombinant enzyme was N-glycosylated and, therefore, competent for translocation across the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum. Using specific gal-T assays employing N-acetylglucosamine or glucose in combination with alpha-lactalbumin as exogenous acceptor substrates, recombinant gal-T enzyme activity could readily be detected in crude homogenates. Analysis of the disaccharide products by 1H-NMR spectroscopy demonstrated that only beta-1-4 linkages were formed by the recombinant gal-T. The recombinant gal-T was detergent solubilized and subsequently purified by affinity chromatography on N-acetylglucosamine-derivatized Sepharose followed by alpha-lactalbumin-Sepharose. The purified enzyme preparation had a specific activity comparable to that of the soluble gal-T isolated from human milk. Furthermore, kinetic parameters determined for both acceptor and donor substrates of both enzymes differed only slightly. This work shows that yeast provides an appropriate host system for the heterologous expression of mammalian glycosyltransferases.