Effect of lipids on glycoprotein sulphotransferase activity in rat submandibular salivary glands

Sphingosine-1-phosphate Signaling in Human Submandibular Cells

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a significant lipid messenger modulating many physiological responses. S1P plays a critical role in autoimmune disease and is suggested to be involved in Sjögren’s syndrome pathology. However, the mechanism of S1P signaling in salivary glands is unclear. Here we studied the effects of S1P on normal human submandibular gland cells. S1P increased levels of the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), which was inhibited by pre-treatment with U73122 or 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB). Pre-treated S1P did not inhibit subsequent carbachol-induced [Ca2+]i increase, which suggests that S1P and muscarinic signaling are independent of each other. S1P1, S1P2, and S1P3 receptors SphK1 and SphK2 were commonly expressed in human salivary gland cells. S1P, but not carbachol, induces the expression of interleukin-6 and Fas. Our results suggest that S1P triggers Ca2+ signaling and the apoptotic pathway in normal submandibular gland cells, which suggests in turn that S1P affects the progression of Sjögren’s syndrome.

Porcine, mouse and human galactose 3-O-sulphotransferase-2 enzymes have different substrate specificities; the porcine enzyme requires basic compounds for its catalytic activity

Sulphation of galactose at the C-3 position is one of the major post-translational modifications of colorectal mucin. Thus we partially purified a Gal 3-O-sulphotransferase from porcine colonic mucosa (pGal3ST) and studied its enzymatic characteristics. The enzyme was purified 48500-fold by sequential chromatographies on hydroxyapatite, Con A (concanavalin A)-Sepharose, porcine colonic mucin-Sepharose, Cu2+-chelating Sepharose and AMP-agarose. Interestingly, the purified pGal3ST required submillimolar concentrations of spermine or basic lipids, such as D-sphingosine and N,N-dimethylsphingosine, for enzymatic activity. pGal3ST recognized Galbeta1-->3GalNAc (core 1) as an optimal substrate, and had weaker activity for Galbeta1-->3GlcNAc (type 1) and Galbeta1-->4GlcNAc (type 2). Substrate competition experiments proved that a single enzyme catalyses sulphation of all three oligosaccharides. Among the four human Gal3STs cloned to date, the substrate specificity of pGal3ST is most similar to that of human Gal3ST-2, which is also strongly expressed in colonic mucosa, although the kinetics of pGal3ST and human Gal3ST-2 were rather different. To determine whether pGal3ST is the orthologue of human Gal3ST-2, a cDNA encoding porcine Gal3ST-2 was isolated and the enzyme was expressed in COS-7 cells for analysis of substrate specificity. This revealed that porcine Gal3ST-2 has the same specificity as pGal3ST, indicating that pGal3ST is indeed the porcine equivalent of Gal3ST-2. The substrate specificity of mouse Gal3ST-2 was also different from those of human and porcine Gal3ST-2 enzymes. Mouse Gal3ST-2 preferred core 1 and type 2 glycans to type 1, and the K(m) values were much higher than those of human Gal3ST-2. These results suggest that porcine Gal3ST-2 requires basic compounds for catalytic activity and that human, mouse and porcine Gal3ST-2 orthologues have diverse substrate specificities.

Beta 1,4-galactosyltransferase (beta 4GalT)-IV is specific for GlcNAc 6-O-sulfate. Beta 4GalT-IV acts on keratan sulfate-related glycans and a precursor glycan of 6-sulfosialyl-Lewis X

The Galbeta1-->4(SO(3)(-)-->6)GlcNAc moiety is present in various N-linked and O-linked glycans including keratan sulfate and 6-sulfosialyl-Lewis X, an L-selectin ligand. We previously found beta1,4-galactosyltransferase (beta4GalT) activity in human colonic mucosa, which prefers GlcNAc 6-O-sulfate (6SGN) as an acceptor to non-substituted GlcNAc (Seko, A., Hara-Kuge, S., Nagata, K., Yonezawa, S., and Yamashita, K. (1998) FEBS Lett. 440, 307-310). To identify the gene for this enzyme, we purified the enzyme from porcine colonic mucosa. The purified enzyme had the characteristic requirement of basic lipids for catalytic activity. Analysis of the partial amino acid sequence of the enzyme revealed that the purified beta4GalT has a similar sequence to human beta4GalT-IV. To confirm this result, we prepared cDNA for each of the seven beta4GalTs cloned to date and examined substrate specificities using the membrane fractions derived from beta4GalT-transfected COS-7 cells. When using several N-linked and O-linked glycans with or without 6SGN residues as acceptor substrates, only beta4GalT-IV efficiently recognized 6SGN, keratan sulfate-related oligosaccharides, and Galbeta1-->3(SO(3)(-)-->6GlcNAcbeta1-->6) GalNAcalpha1-O-pNP, a precursor for 6-sulfosialyl-Lewis X. These results suggested that beta4GalT-IV is a 6SGN-specific beta4GalT and may be involved in the biosynthesis of various glycoproteins carrying a 6-O-sulfated N-acetyllactosamine moiety.