The identification and characterization of xenoantigenic nonhuman carbohydrate sequences in membrane proteins from porcine kidney

High-mannose type N-glycans with core fucosylation and complex-type N-glycans with terminal neuraminic acid residues are unique to porcine islets

OBJECTIVES

Islet transplantation is an emerging treatment option for type 1 diabetes but its application is limited by the shortage of human pancreas donors. Characterization of the N- and O-glycan surface antigens that vary between human and genetically engineered porcine islet donors could shed light on targets of antibody mediated rejection.

METHODS

N- and O-glycans were isolated from human and adult porcine islets and analyzed using matrix-assisted laser-desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS).

RESULTS

A total of 57 porcine and 34 human N-glycans and 21 porcine and 14 human O-glycans were detected from cultured islets. Twenty-eight of which were detected only from porcine islets, which include novel xenoantigens such as high-mannose type N-glycans with core fucosylation and complex-type N-glycans with terminal neuraminic acid residues. Porcine islets have terminal N-glycolylneuraminic acid (NeuGc) residue in bi-antennary N-glycans and sialyl-Tn O-glycans. No galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-Gal) or Sda epitope were detected on any of the islets.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide important insights into the potential antigenic differences of N- and O-glycan profiles between human and porcine islets. Glycan differences may identify novel gene targets for genetic engineering to generate superior porcine islet donors.

NEGATIVE ION MASS SPECTROMETRY FOR THE ANALYSIS OF N-LINKED GLYCANS

N-glycans from glycoproteins are complex, branched structures whose structural determination presents many analytical problems. Mass spectrometry, usually conducted in positive ion mode, often requires extensive sample manipulation, usually by derivatization such as permethylation, to provide the necessary structure-revealing fragment ions. The newer but, so far, lesser used negative ion techniques, on the contrary, provide a wealth of structural information not present in positive ion spectra that greatly simplify the analysis of these compounds and can usually be conducted without the need for derivatization. This review describes the use of negative ion mass spectrometry for the structural analysis of N-linked glycans and emphasises the many advantages that can be gained by this mode of operation. Biosynthesis and structures of the compounds are described followed by methods for release of the glycans from the protein. Methods for ionization are discussed with emphasis on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and methods for producing negative ions from neutral compounds. Acidic glycans naturally give deprotonated species under most ionization conditions. Fragmentation of negative ions is discussed next with particular reference to those ions that are diagnostic for specific features such as the branching topology of the glycans and substitution positions of moieties such as fucose and sulfate, features that are often difficult to identify easily by conventional techniques such as positive ion fragmentation and exoglycosidase digestions. The advantages of negative over positive ions for this structural work are emphasised with an example of a series of glycans where all other methods failed to produce a structure. Fragmentation of derivatized glycans is discussed next, both with respect to derivatives at the reducing terminus of the molecules, and to methods for neutralization of the acidic groups on sialic acids to both stabilize them for MALDI analysis and to produce the diagnostic fragments seen with the neutral glycans. The use of ion mobility, combined with conventional mass spectrometry is described with emphasis on its use to extract clean glycan spectra both before and after fragmentation, to separate isomers and its use to extract additional information from separated fragment ions. A section on applications follows with examples of the identification of novel structures from lower organisms and tables listing the use of negative ions for structural identification of specific glycoproteins, glycans from viruses and uses in the biopharmaceutical industry and in medicine. The review concludes with a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the technique. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Mass Spec Rev.

Comparative N-linked glycan analysis of wild-type and α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene knock-out pig fibroblasts using mass spectrometry approaches

Carbohydrate antigens expressed on pig cells are considered to be major barriers in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. Even after α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene knock-out (GalT-KO) pigs are generated, potential non-Gal antigens are still existed. However, to the best of our knowledge there is no extensive study analyzing N-glycans expressed on the GalT-KO pig tissues or cells. Here, we identified and quantified totally 47 N-glycans from wild-type (WT) and GalT-KO pig fibroblasts using mass spectrometry. First, our results confirmed the absence of galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (α-Gal) residue in the GalT-KO pig cells. Interestingly, we showed that the level of overall fucosylated N-glycans from GalT-KO pig fibroblasts is much higher than from WT pig fibroblasts. Moreover, the relative quantity of the N-glycolylneuraminic acid (NeuGc) antigen is slightly higher in the GalT-KO pigs. Thus, this study will contribute to a better understanding of cellular glycan alterations on GalT-KO pigs for successful xenotransplantation.

The Xeno-glycomics database (XDB): a relational database of qualitative and quantitative pig glycome repertoire

SUMMARY

In recent years, the improvement of mass spectrometry-based glycomics techniques (i.e. highly sensitive, quantitative and high-throughput analytical tools) has enabled us to obtain a large dataset of glycans. Here we present a database named Xeno-glycomics database (XDB) that contains cell- or tissue-specific pig glycomes analyzed with mass spectrometry-based techniques, including a comprehensive pig glycan information on chemical structures, mass values, types and relative quantities. It was designed as a user-friendly web-based interface that allows users to query the database according to pig tissue/cell types or glycan masses. This database will contribute in providing qualitative and quantitative information on glycomes characterized from various pig cells/organs in xenotransplantation and might eventually provide new targets in the α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene-knock out pigs era.

AVAILABILITY

The database can be accessed on the web at http://bioinformatics.snu.ac.kr/xdb.

The sweets standing at the borderline between allo- and xenotransplantation

Animal cells are densely covered with glycoconjugates, such as N-glycan, O-glycan, and glycosphingolipids, which are important for various biological and immunological events at the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix. Endothelial α-Gal carbohydrate epitopes (Galα3Gal-R) expressed on porcine tissue or cell surfaces are such glycoconjugates and directly mediate hyperacute immunological rejection in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. Although researchers have been able to develop α1,3-galactosyltransferase (GalT) gene knockout (KO) pigs, there remain unclarified non-Gal antigens that prevent xenotransplantation. Based on our expertise in the structural analysis of xenoantigenic carbohydrates, we describe the immunologically significant non-human carbohydrate antigens, including α-Gal antigens, analyzed as part of efforts to assess the antigens responsible for hyperacute immunological rejection in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. The importance of studying human, pig, and GalT-KO pig glycoprofiles, and of developing adequate pig-to-human glycan databases, is also discussed.

Analysis of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry: an update for the period 2005-2006

This review is the fourth update of the original review, published in 1999, on the application of MALDI mass spectrometry to the analysis of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates and brings coverage of the literature to the end of 2006. The review covers fundamental studies, fragmentation of carbohydrate ions, method developments, and applications of the technique to the analysis of different types of carbohydrate. Specific compound classes that are covered include carbohydrate polymers from plants, N- and O-linked glycans from glycoproteins, glycated proteins, glycolipids from bacteria, glycosides, and various other natural products. There is a short section on the use of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for the study of enzymes involved in glycan processing, a section on industrial processes, particularly the development of biopharmaceuticals and a section on the use of MALDI-MS to monitor products of chemical synthesis of carbohydrates. Large carbohydrate-protein complexes and glycodendrimers are highlighted in this final section.

Modern developments in mass spectrometry of chondroitin and dermatan sulfate glycosaminoglycans

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) and dermatan sulfate (DS) are special types of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) oligosaccharides able to regulate vital biological functions that depend on precise motifs of their constituent hexose sequences and the extent and location of their sulfation. As a result, the need for better understanding of CS/DS biological role called for the elaboration and application of straightforward strategies for their composition and structure elucidation. Due to its high sensitivity, reproducibility, and the possibility to rapidly generate data on fine CS/DS structure determinants, mass spectrometry (MS) based on either electrospray ionization (ESI) or matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) brought a major progress in the field. Here, modern developments in MS of CS/DS GAGs are gathered in a critical review covering the past 5 years. The first section is dedicated to protocols for CS/DS extraction from parent proteoglycan, digestion, and purification that are among critical prerequisites of a successful MS experiment. The second part highlights several MALDI MS aspects, the requirements, and applications of this ionization method to CS/DS investigation. An ample chapter is devoted to ESI MS strategies, which employ either capillary- or advanced chip-based sample infusion in combination with multistage MS (MS(n)) using either collision-induced (CID) or electron detachment dissociation (EDD). At last, the potential of two versatile separation techniques, capillary electrophoresis (CE), and liquid chromatography (LC) in off- and/or on-line coupling with ESI MS and MS(n), is discussed, alongside an assessment of particular buffer/solvent conditions and instrumental parameters required for CS/DS mixture separation followed by on-line mass analysis of individual components.

Chemical and enzymatic N-glycan release comparison for N-glycan profiling of monoclonal antibodies expressed in plants

Plants synthesize N-glycans containing the antigenic sugars alpha(1,3)-fucose and beta(1,2)-xylose. Therefore it is important to monitor these N-glycans in monoclonal antibodies produced in plants (plantibodies). We evaluated several techniques to characterize the N-glycosylation of a plantibody produced in tobacco plants with and without the KDEL tetrapeptide endoplasmic reticulum retention signal which should inhibit or drastically reduce the addition of alpha(1,3)-fucose and beta(1,2)-xylose. Ammonium hydroxide/carbonate-based chemical deglycosylation and PNGase A enzymatic release were investigated giving similar 2-aminobenzamide-labeled N-glycan HPLC profiles. The chemical release does not generate peptides which is convenient for MS analysis of unlabeled pool but its main drawback is that it induces degradation of alpha1,3-fucosylated N-glycan reducing terminal sugar. Three analytical methods for N-glycan characterization were evaluated: (i) MALDI-MS of glycopeptides from tryptic digestion; (ii) negative-ion ESI-MS/MS of released N-glycans; (iii) normal-phase HPLC of fluorescently labeled glycans in combination with exoglycosidase sequencing. The MS methods identified the major glycans, but the HPLC method was best for identification and relative quantitation of N-glycans. Negative-mode ESI-MS/MS permitted also the correct identification of the linkage position of the fucose residue linked to the inner core N-acteylglucosamine (GlcNAc) in complex N-glycans.

Profiling the glycoforms of the intact alpha subunit of recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin by high-resolution capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry

With the rapid growth of complex heterogeneous biological molecules, effective techniques that are capable of rapid characterization of biologics are essential to ensure the desired product characteristics. To address this need, we have developed a method for analysis of intact glycoproteins based on high-resolution capillary electrophoretic separation coupled to an LTQ-FT mass spectrometer. We evaluated the performance of this method on the alpha subunit of mouse cell line-derived recombinant human chorionic gonadotrophin (r-alpha hCG), a protein that is glycosylated at two sites and is part of the clinically relevant gonadotrophin family. Analysis of r-alpha hCG, using capillary electrophoresis (CE) with a separation time under 20 min, resulted in the identification of over 60 different glycoforms with up to nine sialic acids. High-resolution CE-Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FT-MS) allowed separation and analysis of not only intact glycoforms with different numbers of sialic acids but also intact glycoforms that differed by the number and extent of neutral monosaccharides. The high mass resolution of the FT-MS enabled a limited mass range to be targeted for the examination of the protein glycoforms, simplifying the analysis without sacrificing accuracy. In addition, the limited mass range resulted in a fast scan speed that enhanced the reproducibility of the relative quantitation of individual glycoforms. The intact glycoprotein analysis was complemented with the analysis of the tryptic glycopeptides and glycans of r-alpha hCG to enable the assignment of glycan structures to individual sites, resulting in a detailed characterization of the protein. Samples of r-alpha hCG obtained from a CHO cell line were also analyzed and briefly shown to be significantly different from the murine cell line product. Taken together, the results suggest that the CE coupled to high-resolution FT-MS can be one of the effective tools for in-process monitoring as well as for final product characterization.

Mass spectrometric analysis of the glycosphingolipid-derived glycans from miniature pig endothelial cells and islets: identification of NeuGc epitope in pig islets

Glycosphingolipid (GSL) is a major component of the plasma membrane in eukaryotic cells that is involved directly in a variety of immunological events via cell-to-cell or cell-to-protein interactions. In this study, qualitative and quantitative analyses of GSL-derived glycans on endothelial cells and islets from a miniature pig were performed and their glycosylation patterns were compared. A total of 60 and 47 sialylated and neutral GSL-derived glycans from the endothelial cells and islets, respectively, were characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and collision-induced fragmentation using positive-ion electrospray ionization (ESI) ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). In accordance with previous immunohistochemistry studies, the alpha-Gal-terminated GSL was not detected but NeuGc-terminated GSLs were newly detected from miniature pig islets. In addition, the neutral GSL-derived glycans were relatively quantified by derivatization with carboxymethyl trimethylammonium hydrazide (so called Girard's T reagent) and MALDI-TOF MS. The structural information of the GSL-derived glycans from pig endothelial cells and islets suggests that special attention should be paid to all types of glycoconjugates expressed on pig tissues or cells for successful clinical xenotransplantation.

Structural analysis of sulfated glycans by sequential double-permethylation using methyl iodide and deuteromethyl iodide

MALDI mass spectrometric characterization of sulfated glycans is often challenging due to their low ionization response in the positive ion mode. Here we demonstrate a new analytical approach, allowing the measurement of sulfated glycans by substituting the sulfate group with a deuteromethyl group. Sulfated glycan samples are initially permethylated before the methanolytic cleavage of their sulfate groups. Desulfated and permethylated glycans are then subjected to another permethylation step using deuteromethyl iodide to label the hydroxyl groups resulting from methanolysis. The number of attached sulfate groups is subsequently calculated from the mass-shift resulting from the chemical cleavage of these sulfate groups. The position of the sulfate substitution is then determined by collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry of permethylated and permethylated plus deuteromethylated samples. The described approach was initially optimized and validated using linear standard glycans, while its effectiveness has also been demonstrated here for the N-glycans derived from bovine thyroid-stimulating hormone (bTSH).

Qualitative and quantitative comparison of N-glycans between pig endothelial and islet cells by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry-based strategy

N-glycan structures released from miniature pig endothelial and islet cells were determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF), negative ion electrospray ionization (ESI) MS/MS and normal-phase high performance liquid chromatography (NP-HPLC) combined with exoglycosidase digestion. Totally, the identified structures were 181 N-glycans including 129 sialylated and 18 alpha-galactosylated glycans from pig endothelial cells and 80 N-glycans including 41 sialylated and one alpha-galactosylated glycans from pig islet cells. The quantity of the alpha-galactosylated glycans from pig islet cells was certainly neglectable compared to pig endothelial cells. A number of NeuGc-terminated N-glycans (80 from pig endothelial cells and 13 from pig islet cells) are newly detected by our mass spectrometric strategies. The detailed structural information will be a matter of great interest in organ or cell xenotransplantation using alpha 1,3-galactosyltransferase gene-knockout (GalT-KO) pig.

N-glycosylation pattern of E2 glycoprotein from classical swine fever virus

The extracellular domain of E2 glycoprotein outer surface of the classical swine fever virus was expressed in epithelial kidney pig cells. The N-glycosylation determined by combination of Normal Phase-HPLC, Weak Anion Exchange-HPLC, exoglycosidase digestions and Mass Spectrometry revealed a complex mixture of neutral and monosialylated multiantennary N-glycans with variable number of alpha1-3-Gal-Gal antennae terminals. The most abundant neutral N-glycan has a composition of Hex(7)HexNAc(4)dHex(1), Negative ion ESI-MS/MS confirmed the presence of the alpha1-3-Gal-Gal motif on each arm of the fucosylated biantennary N-glycan. The most abundant monosialylated glycan was Hex(6)HexNAc(4)dHex(1)Neu(5)Ac(1), with the sialic acid linked to the terminal beta1-4-Gal-GlcNAc. Sialic acid on the antenna capping position was predominantly of the N-acetyl form.

Structural analysis of alpha-Gal and new non-Gal carbohydrate epitopes from specific pathogen-free miniature pig kidney

The major barrier in transplantation of pig organs into humans is the presence of surface carbohydrate antigens (e.g., the Gal alpha 1-3 Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc-R (alpha-Gal) epitope) expressed on pig endothelial cells. In this study, total N-glycans from membrane glycoproteins derived from specific pathogen-free miniature pig kidney are identified by MALDI-TOF, negative ion ESI MS/MS and normal-phase HPLC (NP-HPLC) combined with exoglycosidase digestion. Over 100 N-glycans, including sialylated and neutral types, were identified. As well as the known alpha-Gal antigens, some of these glycans contained novel non-Gal carbohydrate antigens such as (Neu5Gc-Gal-GlcNAc) and Gal alpha 1-3 Lewis(x) (Gal-Gal-(Fuc)GlcNAc) which have not been reported before in N-glycans from pig organs. The ability of MALDI, ESI, and HPLC to measure the relative proportions of the glycans was evaluated. The HPLC resolution was insufficient for accurate work and some minor differences were noted in the ionization efficiencies of different glycan groups when measured by the two mass spectrometric techniques. However, the results indicated that the relative quantity of alpha-Gal epitope was in the region of 50% of the complex glycans. High-mannose type glycans were also abundant (35-43%) but appeared to be ionized more efficiently than the complex glycans by ESI than by MALDI.

Analysis of the N-glycans of recombinant human Factor IX purified from transgenic pig milk

Glycosylation of recombinant proteins is of particular importance because it can play significant roles in the clinical properties of the glycoprotein. In this work, the N-glycan structures of recombinant human Factor IX (tg-FIX) produced in the transgenic pig mammary gland were determined. The majority of the N-glycans of transgenic pig-derived Factor IX (tg-FIX) are complex, bi-antennary with one or two terminal N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) moieties. We also found that the N-glycan structures of tg-FIX produced in the porcine mammary epithelial cells differed with respect to N-glycans from glycoproteins produced in other porcine tissues. tg-FIX contains no detectable Neu5Gc, the sialic acid commonly found in porcine glycoproteins produced in other tissues. Additionally, we were unable to detect glycans in tg-FIX that have a terminal Galalpha(1,3)Gal disaccharide sequence, which is strongly antigenic in humans. The N-glycan structures of tg-FIX are also compared to the published N-glycan structures of recombinant human glycoproteins produced in other transgenic animal species. While tg-FIX contains only complex structures, antithrombin III (goat), C1 inhibitor (rabbit), and lactoferrin (cow) have both high mannose and complex structures. Collectively, these data represent a beginning point for the future investigation of species-specific and tissue/cell-specific differences in N-glycan structures among animals used for transgenic animal bioreactors.

A relative and absolute quantification of neutral N-linked oligosaccharides using modification with carboxymethyl trimethylammonium hydrazide and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Quantification of oligosaccharides is of great importance to investigate variations or changes in the glycans of glycoconjugates. Mass spectrometry (MS) has been widely applied to identification and structural analysis of complex oligosaccharides. However, quantification using MS alone is still quite challenging due to heterogeneous charge states and different ionization efficiency of various types of oligosaccharides. To overcome such shortcomings, derivatization with carboxymethyl trimethylammonium hydrazide (Girard's reagent T [GT]) was introduced to generate a permanent cationic charge at the reducing end of neutral oligosaccharides, resulting in mainly [M](+) ion using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), so that the ambiguities caused by metal adduct peaks such as [M+K](+) and [M+Na](+) were avoided. To verify our method, the relative and absolute quantification of neutral glycans from human immunoglobulin G (IgG) and ovalbumin with internal standards of dextran ladders using MALDI-TOF MS were compared with those performed by conventional normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (NP-HPLC) profiling. The quantification using GT derivatization and MALDI-TOF MS agreed well with the HPLC profiling data and showed excellent reliability and reproducibility with better resolution and sensitivity. This method was further applied to quantify the enzymatically desialylated N-glycans from miniature pig kidney membrane proteins. The results showed that the low-abundance structures that could not be resolved by NP-HPLC were quantified with high sensitivity. Thus, this novel method of using modification of neutral sugars with GT is quite powerful for neutral glycan analysis, especially to quantify minute glycan samples with undetectable levels using HPLC.

The Galalpha1,3Galbeta1,4GlcNAc-R (alpha-Gal) epitope: a carbohydrate of unique evolution and clinical relevance

In 1985, we reported that a naturally occurring human antibody (anti-Gal), produced as the most abundant antibody (1% of immunoglobulins) throughout the life of all individuals, recognizes a carbohydrate epitope Galalpha1-3Galbeta1-4GlcNAc-R (the alpha-gal epitope). Since that time, an extensive literature has developed on discoveries related to the alpha-gal epitope and the anti-Gal antibody, including the barrier they form in xenotransplantation and their reciprocity in mammalian evolution. This review covers these topics and new avenues of clinical importance related to this unique antigen/antibody system (alpha-gal epitope/anti-Gal) in improving the efficacy of viral vaccines and in immunotherapy against cancer.