Synthesis and characterization of a carbene-generating biotinylated N-acetylglucosamine for photoaffinity labeling of beta-(1-->4)-galactosyltransferase

A photoreactive N-acetylglucosamine derivative, N-[2-[2-[2-(2-biotinylaminoethoxy)-ethoxy]ethoxy]-4-[3-(trifluo rom ethyl)-3-H-diazirin-3-yl]benzoyl]-N4-[2-(acetylamino)-deoxy-beta-D -glucopyranosyl]-L-aspartamide (BDGA), was synthesized as a carbene-generating biotinylated probe for UDP-galactose:N-acetylglucosamine beta-(1-->4)-galactosyltransferase (GalT). The photoaffinity labeling experiments of bovine GalT with BDGA under various condition were examined based on the quantitative chemiluminescent detection of the biotinyl residue which was photochemically introduced into in GalT protein. A progressive decrease in the yield of specific photolabeling was observed upon lowering the incubation temperature from 37 degrees C to 20 degrees C or 4 degree C. The amount of photoincorporation was also decreased when UMP was not included in the incubation mixture. Using a crude protein mixture of recombinant human GalT, a band corresponding to the glutathione S-transferase fusion GalT protein was also specifically visualized. Furthermore, combine use of BDGA photolabeling with an immobilized avidin was found to be effective for the selective retrieval of photolabeled GalT from a reaction mixture containing a large amount of unlabeled GalT protein. The results obtained clearly demonstrate that the covalent biotinylation using the carbene-generating photoaffinity reagent BDGA would be useful for the analysis of acceptor substrate binding sites within the GalT protein.

Synthetic substrate analogues for UDP-GlcNAc: Man alpha 1-3R beta 1-2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I. Substrate specificity and inhibitors for the enzyme

UDP-GlcNAc:Man alpha 1-3R beta 1-2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (GlcNAc-T I; EC 2.4.1.101) catalyses the conversion of [Man alpha 1-6(Man alpha 1-3)Man alpha 1-6][Man alpha 1-3]Man beta-O-R to [Man alpha 1-6(Man alpha 1-3)Man alpha 1-6] [GlcNAc beta 1-2Man alpha 1-3]Man beta-O-R (R = 1-4GlcNAc beta 1-4GlcNAc- Asn-X) and thereby controls the conversion of oligomannose to complex and hybrid asparagine-linked glycans (N-glycans). GlcNAc-T I also catalyses the conversion of Man alpha 1-6(Man alpha 1-3)Man beta-O-octyl to Man alpha 1-6(GlcNAc beta 1-2Man alpha 1-3)Man beta-O-octyl. We have therefore tested a series of synthetic analogues of Man"alpha 1-6(Man'alpha 1-3)Man beta-O-octyl as substrates and inhibitors for rat liver GlcNAc-T I. The 2"-deoxy and the 3"-, 4"- and 6"-O-methyl derivatives are all good substrates confirming previous observations that the hydroxyl groups of the Man"alpha 1-6 residue do not play major roles in the binding of substrate to enzyme. In contrasts, all four hydroxyl groups on the Man'alpha 1-3 residue are essential since the corresponding deoxy derivatives either do not bind (2'- and 3'-deoxy) or bind very poorly (4'- and 6'-deoxy) to the enzyme. The 2'- and 3'-O-methyl derivatives also do not bind to the enzyme. However, the 4'-O-methyl derivative is a substrate (KM = 2.6 mM) and the 6'-O-methyl compound is a competitive inhibitor (Ki = 0.76 mM). We have therefore synthesized various 4'- and 6'-O-alkyl derivatives, some with reactive groups attached to an O-pentyl spacer, and tested these compounds as reversible and irreversible inhibitors of GlcNAc-T I. The 6'-O-(5-iodoacetamido-pentyl) compound is a specific time dependent inhibitor of the enzyme. Four other 6'-O-alkyl compounds showed competitive inhibition while the remaining compounds showed little or no binding indicating that the electronic properties of the attached O-pentyl groups influence binding.