Effect of inhibitors of N-linked oligosaccharide processing on the cell surface expression of a melanoma integrin

Role of alpha v beta 5 and alpha v beta 6 integrin glycosylation in the adhesion of a colonic adenocarcinoma cell line (HT29-D4)

We have previously characterized the expression of the alpha nu beta 5 and alpha nu beta 6 integrins as major receptors for the human colonic adenocarcinoma cell line (HT29-D4), on vitronectin and fibronectin, respectively [Lehmann et al. (1994): Cancer Res 54:2102-2107]. In the present work we investigated the glycosylation role of these integrins in their adhesive functions. To this end, we used glycohydrolases to show that cell surface integrins were N-glycosylated and sialylated, and that only the alpha v subunit carried some immature oligosaccharide side chains. To alter the glycosylation state of the cell surface alpha v beta 5 and alpha v beta 6 integrins, we used two oligosaccharide-processing inhibitors: 1-deoxymannojirimycin (dMNJ) and tunicamycin (TM). Following treatment of HT29-D4 cells with dMNJ, cell surface alpha v beta 5 and alpha v beta 6 carried only high-mannose-type sugar chains, while TM-treated cells expressed de-N-glycosylated integrins. Neither alpha/beta heterodimers assembly nor cell surface expression were impaired in the presence of the drugs. Finally, we established that adhesion of dMNJ- or TM-treated cells was altered on both vitronectin and fibronectin substrata, whereas the adhesion of these cells on laminin or collagen type I was virtually unchanged.

Inhibitors of N-linked oligosaccharide processing glucosidases interfere with oligodendrocyte differentiation in culture

Previous studies have demonstrated that inhibitors of glycoprotein processing glucosidases interfere with the development of oligodendrocyte properties in primary cultures of embryonic rat brain cells (Bhat, J Neurosci Res 20:158-164, 1988). The present study examines the effect of castanospermine, an inhibitor of the processing glucosidases, on the development and differentiation of isolated oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. Treatment of oligodendrocyte progenitors with castanospermine did not affect the developmental progression of the precursors to become committed oligodendrocytes as revealed by comparable increases in the percentages of cells positive for galactocerebroside (a surface marker for terminally differentiated oligodendrocytes) in control and drug-treated cultures. On the other hand, there was an impairment of the expression of differentiated properties of oligodendrocytes [i.e., sulfolipid synthesis, myelin basic protein (MBP)] and 2'3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase in the drug-treated cultures. Immunocytochemical analysis with anti-MBP antibodies revealed a reduced number of MBP-positive cells in inhibitor-treated cultures. Furthermore, a majority of MBP-positive cells in such cultures displayed immunoreactive MBP in their cell body and not the processes, unlike in control cultures where both cell body and the processes of oligodendrocytes stained intensely for MBP. The strong inhibitory effect of castanospermine on the expression of oligodendrocyte-specific activities was contrasted with a relatively smaller effect of swainsonine, a mannosidase inhibitor on oligodendrocyte differentiation. Both castanospermine and swainsonine, however, effectively blocked the formation of complex-type oligosaccharides, suggesting thereby a lack of correlation between the inhibition of the formation of complex-type oligosaccharides and oligodendrocyte differentiation. It is suggested, therefore, that early trimming reactions involving the removal of glucose residues from the high mannose oligosaccharides in the endoplasmic reticulum may be essential for the cell surface localization and function of glycoproteins critically involved in surface interactions of oligodendrocytes with each other and/or with the substratum.

Altered glycosylation of integrin adhesion molecules in colorectal cancer cells and decreased adhesion to the extracellular matrix

The integrin mediated interactions between tumour cells and the surrounding extracellular matrix are thought to play crucial parts in the complex process of invasion and metastasis. It has been previously shown that the expression of integrins is differently diminished in a chain-specific manner in human colorectal cancer. To further characterise the integrins still expressed in colorectal carcinomas, immunoblots with monoclonal antibodies against the beta 1 integrin subunit have been performed. In isolated cell membranes of colorectal cancers a second smaller beta 1 chain (105 kD non-reduced) was found as well as the mature beta 1 chain (116 kD non-reduced) present in normal mucosa of the colon. This smaller beta 1 chain comigrates with the diminished glycosylated precursor form of the beta 1 chain. The role of N-glycosylation for the function and expression of integrins in vitro was therefore investigated, with deoxymannojirimycin (DMJ) and deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) as specific inhibitors of N-glycan processing. Pretreatment of human colon adenocarcinoma derived HT-29 cells with DMJ resulted in an expression of the 105 kD beta 1 precursor chain and of smaller forms of the alpha 1, alpha 3, alpha 6, and alpha v integrin subunits in a time and dose dependent manner. HT-29 cells treated with DMJ adhered poorly to laminin (8% of untreated controls), collagen type IV (40%), and fibronectin (35%). Pretreatment of the cells with DNJ did not alter the molecular weight of the integrin chains expressed and reduced HT-29 adhesion to laminin and fibronectin only to 68% and 49% respectively. Adhesion to collagen type IV was increased to 124% by DNJ. These results show that N-glycan processing is essential for the function and expression of integrins in human colorectal cancer cells. An altered glycosylation of these adhesion receptors may contribute to a more invasive or metastatic phenotype in colorectal cancer.

Biosynthesis, surface expression and function of the fibronectin receptor after rat liver cell transformation to tumorigenicity

Zajdela hepatoma cells are poorly-adherent cells derived from an undifferentiated tumour and transplanted into rat. We compared the biosynthesis, structure and function of the fibronectin receptor in normal rat hepatocytes with that in Zajdela hepatoma cells. The rat hepatocyte fibronectin receptor has been isolated. It is composed of two subunits: alpha 5 (molecular mass 155 kDa) and beta 1 (molecular mass 115 kDa). However, its biosynthesis has not yet been described. Using polyclonal antibodies raised against each of the subunits of the receptor, we observed that the alpha 5-subunit was synthesized as a 155-kDa polypeptide in normal rat hepatocytes and Zajdela hepatoma cells. In contrast, the molecular mass of the beta 1-subunit was 130 kDa in Zajdela hepatoma cells versus 115 kDa in normal rat hepatocytes. Pulse-chase experiments showed that the apparent transition time from the 100-kDa beta 1-precursor to the 130-kDa mature form was abnormally prolonged in Zajdela hepatoma cells since the latter was not detected until 24 h, while the transition from the 100-kDa precursor to the 115-kDa mature form began within 3 h in normal rat hepatocytes. Digestion of both the normal rat hepatocytes and Zajdela hepatoma cells 100-kDa beta 1-precursors with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H and peptide N-glycosidase yielded products from 100 kDa to 84 kDa and 82 kDa, respectively, as judged by SDS/PAGE, suggesting that the same polypeptide chain is synthesized in normal rat hepatocytes and in Zajdela hepatoma cells. Incubation of the mature normal rat hepatocyte beta 1-subunit with peptide N-glycosidase reduced its molecular mass from 115 kDa to 82 kDa, as judged by SDS/PAGE, while the molecular mass of the abnormal mature Zajdela hepatoma cell beta 1-subunit decreased from 130 to 110 kDa. Thus, in addition to alterations in the Asn-linked oligosaccharide processing, 'ascitic growth' induced other post-translational modifications in the Zajdela hepatoma cell beta 1-subunit. Furthermore, both the abnormal mature 130-kDa and precursor 100-kDa beta 1-subunits were detected on the surface of Zajdela hepatoma cells, associated with the alpha 5-subunit. The relationship between these structural alterations in the fibronectin receptor and the impaired Zajdela hepatoma cell binding to soluble fibronectin or to a coated fibronectin matrix that was observed in this study is discussed.

High mannose type N-linked oligosaccharides on endothelial cells may influence beta 2 integrin mediated neutrophil adherence in vitro

We report herein on the role of N-linked oligosaccharide processing of endothelial cell surface proteins on the adhesion of neutrophils. Monolayers of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were treated for 24 h with deoxymannojirimycin (DMJ), an inhibitor of golgi mannosidase I, which results in changes in glycoprotein processing, and then incubated with neutrophils to examine their ability to adhere to the treated endothelial cells. Treatment with DMJ, which leads to accumulation of high mannose type oligosaccharides, resulted in a twofold increase in adherence of phorbol ester (PMA) activated neutrophils compared to attachment to untreated endothelial cells. This adherence was likely mediated by the beta 2 integrin, Mac-1, and could be specifically inhibited with monoclonal antibodies to ICAM-1 and to the integrin beta 2 subunit. Similarly, IL-1 treatment resulted in a beta 2 integrin mediated increase in neutrophil adherence to the DMJ treated endothelial cells in a dose dependent manner. However, the IL-1 induced adherence was not significantly inhibited by the anti-ICM-1 antibody, thus, suggesting the presence of other inducible components on the endothelial cell surface. Our results demonstrate that alterations in glycosylation of N-linked oligosaccharides, resulting in the synthesis of high mannose type sugars on molecules that may interact with the beta 2 integrins, leads to an increased adherence of PMA activated neutrophils to endothelial cells.