Deglycosylation with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid differentially affects inhibitor activities of turkey ovomucoid

Structurally unique recombinant Kazal-type proteinase inhibitor retains activity when terminally extended and glycosylated

Recombinant derivatives of the Kazal-type serine proteinase inhibitor GmSPI2 (36 amino acid residues), which is a component of insect silk, were prepared in the expression vector Pichia pastoris. The rhSPI2 had a C-terminal hexahistidine tag attached to the GmSPI2 sequence, rtSPI2 was extended with GluAlaAla at the N-terminus, and rfSPI2 included this N-terminal extension and a C-terminal tail of 22 residues (myc epitope and hexahistidine). A portion of the secreted rfSI2 was O-glycosylated with a trimannosyl or hexamannosyl. The native inhibitor was active slightly on trypsin and highly on subtilisin and proteinase K. The extended C-terminus in rhSPI2 and rfSPI2 enhanced activity on the two latter enzymes and rendered rfSPI2 active on elastase and pronase, but abolished the inhibition of trypsin. The glycosylation of rfSPI2 reduced its inhibitory activity to a level comparable with the native inhibitor. The rtSPI2 with tripeptide extension at the N-terminus and no C-terminal modification was clearly less active than the native inhibitor. None of the tested compounds inhibited alpha-chymotrypsin and the non-serine proteinases.

Deglycosylation of glycoproteins with trifluoromethanesulphonic acid: elucidation of molecular structure and function

The alteration of proteins by post-translational modifications, including phosphorylation, sulphation, processing by proteolysis, lipid attachment and glycosylation, gives rise to a broad range of molecules that can have an identical underlying protein core. An understanding of glycosylation of proteins is important in clarifying the nature of the numerous variants observed and in determining the biological roles of these modifications. Deglycosylation with TFMS (trifluoromethanesulphonic acid) [Edge, Faltynek, Hof, Reichert, and Weber, (1981) Anal. Biochem. 118, 131-137] has been used extensively to remove carbohydrate from glycoproteins, while leaving the protein backbone intact. Glycosylated proteins from animals, plants, fungi and bacteria have been deglycosylated with TFMS, and the most extensively studied types of carbohydrate chains in mammals, the N-linked, O-linked and glycosaminoglycan chains, are all removed by this procedure. The method is based on the finding that linkages between sugars are sensitive to cleavage by TFMS, whereas the peptide bond is stable and is not broken, even with prolonged deglycosylation. The relative susceptibility of individual sugars in glycosidic linkage varies with the substituents at C-2 and the occurrence of amido and acetyl groups, but even the most stable sugars are removed under conditions that are sufficiently mild to prevent scission of peptide bonds. The post-translational modifications of proteins have been shown to be required for diverse biological functions, and selective procedures to remove these modifications play an important role in the elucidation of protein structure and function.