Human small-intestinal apolipoprotein B-48 oligosaccharide chains.

Hepatic apolipoprotein (apo) B-100 isolated from human plasma is known to contain N-linked oligosaccharides of high-mannose-type and complex-type structures. Sequencing data have revealed that apo B-48 of small-intestinal origin, which represents about 48% of apo B-100 polypeptide from the N-terminus, possesses six potential sites for N-linked oligosaccharides, of which five are likely to be glycosylated. The characterization of the carbohydrate moiety of apo B-48 is the focus of this study. Apo B-48 was labelled with L-[35S]methionine and D-[3H]glucosamine in organ culture of human small-intestinal explants. N-Glycanase treatment resulted in loss of radioactivity from D-[3H]glucosamine-labelled but not L-[35S]methionine-labelled apo B-48 secreted into the medium, and caused no distinct change in mobility of apo B-48 upon electrophoresis on 5% polyacrylamide gel. Analysis of monosaccharide content revealed the presence of 16.8, 17.8, 13.4, 3.4, 2.4 and 2.3 residues of N-acetylglucosamine, mannose, galactose, fucose, xylose and N-acetylgalactosamine respectively. Small-intestinal apo B-48 from human lymph chylomicrons bound to [14C]concanavalin A, and the binding could be inhibited with methyl alpha-D-mannoside. In addition, wheat-germ, peanut, Limulus, soya-bean and Ulex lectins bound apo B-48 specifically. To characterize the carbohydrate moiety further, N-linked oligosaccharides were released by N-Glycanase treatment and reduced with NaB3H4. Labelled oligosaccharides were separated on a concanavalin A-Sepharose column. The majority (78%) were biantennary complex-type structures, 16% were high-mannose type and 6% (not retained by the column) most probably represented higher-branched oligosaccharides. These results suggest the presence of one high-mannose-type and four biantennary complex-type oligosaccharides, as well as probable O-linked sugars in apo B-48. By the use of h.p.l.c., exoglycosidase treatments and ion-exchange chromatography, a mixture of high-mannose-type species with predominant Man8GlcNAc2 as well as monosialylated, desialylated and fucosylated forms of complex-type oligosaccharides were detected.

Coordinate expression of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase mRNA and enzyme levels in rat intestine during development.

The development of rat intestinal lactase-specific activity displays a well-known post-weaning decline. In contrast, total lactase activity increases to reach maximal levels around weaning, and remains high subsequently. In order to elucidate the molecular basis for these patterns, a rat lactase cDNA was isolated and characterized, and used in the quantification of lactase mRNA during development. This lactase cDNA uniquely hybridized to a 6.8-kilobase mRNA in the small intestine. To assess the amount of lactase mRNA encoding for lactase enzyme activity in the small intestine, total intestinal RNA was isolated and analyzed by Northern and dot-blot hybridization. The pattern of total lactase mRNA during development followed that of total lactase activity, suggesting that over this time span the level of lactase activity is primarily controlled at the transcriptional level. However, the magnitude of increase of total lactase activity during lactation compared to that of total lactase mRNA suggests that additional mechanisms are involved in regulating lactase levels. Analysis of the regional distribution of lactase mRNA along the small intestine at 14 days revealed that mRNA was high in the proximal three regions, but was dramatically lower in the distal regions. Total lactase activity, in contrast, displayed maximum activity in the mid-intestine with decreased levels both proximally and distally. Thus, lactase activity in the intestine appears to be regulated during development predominantly by transcriptional mechanisms, while alterations during lactation, and along the proximal to distal gradient, are the result of other control mechanisms.

Biosynthetic precursor (214 kDa) of apolipoprotein B-48 is not secreted by Caco-2 cells and normal human intestine.

The synthesis and secretion of apolipoprotein B (apo B) was studied in a human colon carcinoma (Caco-2) cell line and in explants from normal human intestine. In Caco-2 cells, the specific activity of the intestinal disaccharidases maltase, sucrase-isomaltase and lactase was enhanced 8-, 6- and 3-fold respectively, at 19 days post-confluence as compared with 1-day-post-confluence cultures. The level of apo B secreted into the medium increased from undetectable in the cells just reaching confluency, to 115 ng/ml at 18 days post-confluence. The presence of apo B-100 and apo B-48 with mobilities on SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis corresponding to those of human very-low-density lipoproteins and lymph chylomicrons, respectively, was detected in the media from 7-, 12- and 18-days-post-confluence cells. These two apo B proteins were also found intracellularly in 7-day-post-confluence cultures. However, more differentiated cells (12 and 18 days post-confluence) accumulated large amount of a 214 kDa protein intracellularly. Apo B-related 214 kDa protein was also synthesized by normal human intestinal explants. A pulse-chase experiment with explants from normal human jejunum showed a slow intracellular conversion of the 214 kDa protein into the size of mature apo B-48 (264 kDa), concomitant with increasing amounts of mature apo B-48 in the medium, suggesting a precursor-product relationship. Despite large intracellular quantities, the 214 kDa protein from the normal human tissue and Caco-2 cells was absent from the medium. No apo B-100 synthesis was detected in the human explants. These findings may help in our understanding of cholesterol and lipid metabolism in health and in some disorders characterized by the inability to secrete apo B-containing lipoproteins.

Further studies of glycosylation and intracellular transport of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase in rat small intestine.

Previous studies [Büller, Montgomery, Sasak & Grand (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 17206-17211] have demonstrated that lactase-phlorizin hydrolase is inserted into the microvillus membrane (MVM) as a large precursor of approx. 220 kDa, which then undergoes two proteolytic cleavage steps to become the 130 kDa mature MVM protein. In order to assess the role of glycosylation in intracellular transport, the processing of this enzyme has been studied in the presence of castanospermine, an inhibitor of N-linked oligosaccharide modification and subsequent treatment with two endoglycosidases, endo-beta-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (endo-H) and peptide:N-glycosidase-F (N-glycanase). We now show that the intracellular precursor (205 kDa) undergoes carbohydrate processing (220 kDa) and transport to the MVM where its further proteolytic cleavage is as described. Treatment of the intracellular 205 kDa precursor with either endo-H which cleaves only high-mannose N-linked oligosaccharides, or with N-glycanase, which cleaves both high-mannose and complex N-linked oligosaccharides, results in the conversion of the 205 kDa protein band to one of 195 kDa. These data suggest that the 205 kDa precursor contains only high-mannose N-linked carbohydrates, and that the unglycosylated nascent protein is 195 kDa. In the presence of castanospermine, an intracellular precursor of approx. 210 kDa is observed. When treated with endo-H or N-glycanase, this form also produces a protein of 195 kDa. The transport of the intracellular precursor to the MVM and further proteolytic processing is not blocked by the inhibitor. However, all MVM forms of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase show an increase of approx. 5 kDa. Treatment of these three MVM forms with endo-H indicates the increased presence of high mannose oligosaccharides in comparison with non-castanospermine-treated forms. The susceptibility to endo-H of the 130 kDa MVM band synthesized in the absence of castanospermine implies the presence of high-mannose N-linked oligosaccharides in the mature form of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase. Incubation of these MVM forms with N-glycanase further reduces their electrophoretic mobility, indicating the presence of complex N-linked oligosaccharides in the MVM forms, in contrast with the intracellular precursor. Altered glycosylation reduces but does not abolish intracellular transport of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase to the MVM.

Biosynthesis, glycosylation, and intracellular transport of intestinal lactase-phlorizin hydrolase in rat.

The biosynthesis of rat intestinal lactase-phlorizin hydrolase was studied by pulse-labeling of jejunal explants from 5-day-old suckling rats in organ culture. Explants were either continuously labeled with [35S] methionine for 15, 30, and 60 min or pulse-labeled for 30 min and chased for various periods of time up to 6 h in the presence or absence of protease inhibitors (PI), leupeptin, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and soybean trypsin inhibitor. Lactase-phlorizin hydrolase was immunoprecipitated from microvillus membrane (MVM) and ER-Golgi fractions with monoclonal antibodies. After pulse-labeling, lactase-phlorizin hydrolase from the ER-Golgi fraction appeared on SDS-PAGE as one band of approximately 220 kDa, regardless of the presence or absence of PI in the culture media. The 220-kDa protein band could also be labeled after incubation with [2-3H]mannose. In the absence of PI, the 220-kDa band appeared in the MVM by 30 min chase, simultaneously with a 180-kDa band, and by 60 min of chase an additional band of 130 kDa was seen. With increasing time of chase, the relative intensity of the 130-kDa band increased, whereas that of the 220-kDa band decreased, suggesting a precursor-product relationship. When PI were added to the medium, the formation of the 180-kDa band was not affected, but the conversion of the 180-kDa protein to the 130-kDa protein was virtually blocked. These findings suggest that lactase-phlorizin hydrolase is initially synthesized as a glycosylated precursor of 220 kDa, which is transported to the MVM. There it undergoes the following two cleavages: first, to the 180-kDa form, which is not prevented by PI used in these experiments, and second, to the 130-kDa form inhibited by PI.

A novel cell line (Caco-2) for the study of intestinal lipoprotein synthesis.

Lipoprotein synthesis by the colonic adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2 was investigated to assess the utility of this cell line as a model for the in vitro study of human intestinal lipid metabolism. Electron micrographic analysis of conditioned medium revealed that under basal conditions of culture post-confluent Caco-2 cells synthesize and secrete lipoprotein particles. Lipoproteins of density (d) less than 1.063 g/ml consist of a heterogeneous population of particles (diameter from 10 to 90 nm). This fraction consists of very low density lipoproteins (d less than 1.006 g/ml) and low density lipoproteins (d = 1.019-1.063 g/ml). Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of [35S]methionine-labeled Caco-2 lipoproteins revealed that very low density lipoproteins contain apolipoprotein E (apoE) and C apolipoproteins, while low density lipoproteins contained apoB-100, apoE, apoA-I, and C apolipoproteins. The 1.063-1.21 g/ml density fraction contained two morphological entities, discoidal (diameter 15.6 +/- 3.9 nm) and round high density lipoprotein particles (diameter 10.2 +/- 2.3 nm). The high density lipoproteins contained apoA-I, apoB-100, apoB-48, apoE, and the C apolipoproteins. Using isoelectric focusing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis newly secreted apoA-I was identified as pro-apoA-I. ApoE and apoC-III released by Caco-2 cells were highly sialylated. mRNA species for apoA-I, apoC-III, and apoE, but not apoA-IV were identified by Northern blot analysis. ApoA-I, apoB, and apoE were visualized in Caco-2 cells by immunolocalization analysis. This intestinal cell line may be useful for in vitro studies of nutritional and hormonal regulation of lipoprotein synthesis.

Biosynthesis of dolichyl pentasaccharide diphosphate in calf pancreas microsomes.

Incubation of synthetic dolichyl pyrophosphate tetrasaccharide and GDP-[14C]mannose with calf pancreas microsomes gave three lipid-linked oligosaccharides, which could be extracted with chloroform/methanol (2:1) and separated on silica gel plates. The fastest migrating product was characterized as dolichyl pyrophosphate pentasaccharide based on gel filtration and high pressure liquid chromatography. The formation of the pentasaccharide-lipid was greatly stimulated by addition of synthetic tetrasaccharide-lipid and required the presence of Triton X-100. Dolichyl phosphate mannose could not replace GDP-mannose as a sugar donor. The structure of the pentasaccharide was determined by degradation with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase D, acetolysis, alpha-D-mannosidase, and concanavalin A-Sepharose chromatography, showing that the following reaction was taking place: alpha-D-Manp-(1 leads to 3)-beta-D-Manp-(1 leads to 4)-beta-D-GlcpNAc-(1 leads to 4)-alpha-D-GlcpNAcPPDol + GDPMan leads to GDP + alpha-D-Manp-(1 leads to 3)-[alpha-D-Manp-(1 leads to 6)]-beta-D-Manp-(1 leads to 4)-beta-D-GlcpNAc-(1 leads to 4)-alpha-D-GlcpNAcPPDol. The mannosyltransferase was partially characterized.

Changes in cell-surface fucose-containing glycopeptides and adhesion of cultured intestinal epithelial cells as a function of cell density.

Confluent cultured intestinal epithelial cells displayed greater adhesion to the substratum than did subconfluent cells. Subconfluent and confluent cells were labelled with [3H]fucose for 24h and the cell-surface components were released by mild Pronase treatment. After extensive Pronase digestion, cell-surface and cell-residue glycopeptides were fractionated on Bio-Gel P-6. The cell surface contained a higher proportion of lower-molecular-weight glycopeptides than the residue. No significant difference in elution pattern was found between total cell-surface glycopeptides of subconfluent and confluent cells. However, confluent cells contained almost twice as much [3H]-fucose-labelled glycopeptides that were bound to concanavalin A-Sepharose and were subsequently eluted with 20mM-methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside as subconfluent cells. When the bound glycopeptides were chromatographed on Bio-Gel P-6, it was found that confluent cells contained a larger proportion of lower-molecular-weight glycopeptides than subconfluent cells. This difference in size was eliminated after treatment of glycopeptides with sialidase. When growth of subconfluent cells was inhibited with a non-toxic concentration of retinoic acid, no significant effect on the elution pattern of [3H]fucose-labelled glycopeptides was observed on either Bio-Gel P-6 or concanavalin A-Sepharose. No significant difference was found in the total [3H]fucose-labelled glycoproteins from subconfluent and confluent cells by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. It is suggested that the differences in [3H]fucose-labelled glycopeptides between subconfluent and confluent cells are cell-density-dependent rather than growth-dependent, and that these differences are likely to result from some changes in glycosylation mechanism(s). Furthermore, the differences in cell-surface glycopeptides may be related to the changes in the adhesion of the cells to the substratum.

Studies on the mechanism of retinoid-induced adhesion of spontaneously transformed mouse fibroblasts.

Transformed cells (Balb/c, 3T12-3), induced to increase their adhesion to the substrate by treatment with retinoic acid, display higher incorporation of (2-(3)H)-mannose into both lipids and glycoproteins than untreated controls. Stimulation of (2-(3)H)-mannose incorporation into manno-lipids is evident 8 hr after exposing the cells to retinoic acid, and stimulation of tritiated mannose incorporation into glycoproteins occurs slightly later. SDS-PAGE of (2-(3)H)-mannose labelled glycoproteins indicates that both retinoic acid and retinol treatments stimulate the incorporation of the radiolabelled sugar into a glycoprotein with subunit MW 180,000 (Gp 180) and, to a lesser extent, into other glycoproteins. 3H-leucine incorporation into a protein banding at the same position as the 3H-mannose labelled Gp 180 does not appear to be affected by retinoid treatment. A retinoic acid induced increase in the amount of Gp 180 can also be shown by lactoperoxidase catalyzed radioiodination of cultured 3T12 cells, and controlled trypsin digestion experiments indicate that Gp 180 is a component of the cell surface. On the contrary, the increased cell adhesion to the substrate induced by retinoic acid is not accompanied, in this system, by an increase in the amount of fibronectin, as judged by iodination of the cell surface components followed by SDS-PAGE.

Cell-density-dependent changes in cell-surface glycopeptides and in adhesion of cultured intestinal epithelial cells.

We studied mannose-containing glycopeptides and glycoproteins of subconfluent and confluent intestinal epithelial cells in culture. Cells were labelled with d-[2-(3)H]mannose for 24h and treated with Pronase or trypsin to release cell-surface components. The cell-surface and cell-residue fractions were then exhaustively digested with Pronase and the resulting glycopeptides were fractionated on Bio-Gel P-6, before and after treatment with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H to distinguish between high-mannose and complex oligosaccharides. The cell-surface glycopeptides were enriched in complex oligosaccharides as compared with residue glycopeptides, which contained predominantly high-mannose oligosaccharides. Cell-surface glycopeptides of confluent cells contained a much higher proportion of complex oligosaccharides than did glycopeptides from subconfluent cells. The ability of the cells to bind [(3)H]concanavalin A decreased linearly with increasing cell density up to 5 days in culture and then remained constant. When growth of the cells was completely inhibited by either retinoic acid or cortisol, no significant difference was observed in the ratio of complex to high-mannose oligosaccharides in the cell-surface glycopeptides of subconfluent cells. Only minor differences were found in total mannose-labelled glycoproteins between subconfluent and confluent cells by two-dimensional gel analysis. The adhesion of the cells to the substratum was measured at different stages of growth and cell density. Subconfluent cells displayed a relatively weak adhesion, which markedly increased with increased cell density up to 6 days in culture. It is suggested that alterations in the structure of the carbohydrates of the cell-surface glycoproteins are dependent on cell density rather than on cell growth. These changes in the glycopeptides are correlated with the changes in adhesion of the cells to the substratum.

Recent studies on the involvement of retinyl phosphate as a carrier of mannose in biological membranes.

Rat liver microsomes synthesized [14C]mannosylretinylphosphate and dolichyl [14C]mannosylphosphate from guanosinedisphosphate [14C]mannose, retinylphosphate and dolichylphosphate. Two distinct enzyme activities were shown to be responsible for the biosynthesis of the two mannolipids. A higher affinity mannosyl transferase (EA I), responsible for dolichylmannosylphosphate synthesis, displayed a Km for GDP-mannose of 1.7 microM; while a lower affinity enzyme (EA II), responsible for mannosylretinylphosphate synthesis, displayed a Km for GDP-mannose of 12.5 microM. These Km values were unaffected by the addition of either dolichylphosphate for EA II, or retinylphosphate for EA I. The same Km values were found before and after solubilization of the enzyme activity with 1% Triton X-100. Differential solubilization of EA I and EA II was demonstrated, utilizing different concentrations of Triton X-100. Triple-labeled mannosylretinylphosphate was prepared from [3H]retinylphosphate, retinyl[32P]phosphate and GDP-[14C]mannose from incubations containing rat liver microsomes. This compound was shown to donate [14C]mannose to endogenous acceptors of rat liver microsomes.

Retinoid metabolism and mode of action.

Vitamin A and its derivaties (retinoids) are necessary for the maintenance of normal phenotypic expression. An attempt at understanding the biochemical role of vitamin A had led to the demonstration of a new pathway for retinol. In this pathway, vitamin A is phosphorylated to retinylphosphate (RP), which is then glycosylated to retinylphosphatemannose (MRP). These two derivatives have been found in a variety of tissues in vivo and in vitro and appear to be ubiquitous components of cellular membranes. The suggestion has been made that MRP may mediate specific cellular interactions by functioning as a lipid intermediate in the biosynthesis of specific glycoconjugates. A study on spontaneously-transformed mouse fibroblasts (Balb/c 3T12-3 cells) has shown that retinoids are active in increasing the adhesive properties of these cells as measured in an EDTA-mediated detachment assay. Various retinoids were tested for their activity in the adhesion test, and this activity was found to correlate well with their biological activity in maintaining the expression of normal epithelial differentiation in other systems. Retinoic acid, 5,6-epoxyretinol, and 5,6-epoxyretinoic acid were the most active compounds. Retinoids without biological activity in other systems were also inactive in inducihg adhesive properties of 3T12-3 cells. Among these were the synthetic derivatives of retinol, anhydroretinol, and 4,5-monoeneperhydroretinol, and the phenyl derivative of retinoic acid. Beta-Ionone, abscisic acid, and juvenile hormone, which are devoid of vitamin A activity in other systems, were also inactive in this system. Retinoid-induced changes in cell surface proteins were investigated but no difference in 125I-fibronectin (MW 220,000) was detectable between retinoid-treated and untreated cells. However, these cells synthesized retinylphosphatemannose and the incorporation of 2-3H-mannose into a specific glycoprotein (gp 180) was found to be enhanced specifically by retinoid treatment. Investigations of the involvement of gp 180 in adhesion are in progress.

Phage-dependent changes in Shigella flexneri type antigen synthesis.

Lysogenic conversion of Shigella flexneri type antigens was studied with the aid of wild-type and thermosensitive mutant phages. With all wild-type phages, the appearance of glycosylated antigen was accompanied by the appearance of polyprenyl phosphate glucose synthetase activity. With some of the mutant phages, the appearance of glycosylated antigen was not followed by the formation of lipid-linked glucose in the enzyme assay. The reverse has also been observed, i.e., the high rate of formation of lipid-linked glucose and the lack of V-type antigen.