Spacer-modified trisaccharide glycosides that mimic the biantennary Asn-linked oligosaccharide acceptor of (1----4)-beta-D-galactosyltransferase and can be used as competitive inhibitors and for irreversible deactivation

N-Acyl derivatives of glucosamine as acceptor substrates for galactosyltransferase from bone and cartilage cells

Glucosamine is commonly used as a nutraceutical by arthritis patients. However, its mode of action is still unknown, and there is controversy about its clinical efficacy. Synthetic N-acyl glucosamines (acyl group>2 carbons) comprise a new class of drugs. We examined these derivatives for their effect in bone and cartilage cells, and for their ability to serve as acceptor substrates for galactosyltransferase. With the exception of N-benzoylglucosamine, compounds of the series were good substrates for galactosyltransferases from bone and cartilage cells, and for purified enzyme from bovine milk. When N-butyrylglucosamine (GlcNBu) was added to the cell medium of primary bovine chondrocytes and human osteoblasts, small amounts were found to enter the cells and a radiolabeled metabolite appeared in the medium. However, GlcNBu did not appear to be incorporated directly into oligosaccharides. GlcNBu at 1 and 5mM concentrations in the glucose-free cell medium of primary human osteoblasts from osteoarthritis patients did not significantly alter cell proliferation or cell differentiation.

Synthesis and application of alpha-D-mannosyl clusters as photoaffinity ligands for mannose-binding proteins: concanavalin A as a model receptor

Mono-, di-, and tri-antennary alpha-D-mannopyranosyl derivatives were synthesized as oligosaccharide mimics. The compounds vary in the length of the acyclic aglyconic spacers linking, in the case of the di- and tri-antennary derivatives, the glycosyl endgroups. By haemagglutination assay (Coombs test) the affinity of the alpha-D-mannopyranosyl ligands against Con A was determined in comparison with methyl alpha-D-mannopyranoside. Affinity enhancement and strong cross-linking capacity were found with the di- and tri-antennary compounds where alpha-D-mannopyranosyl endgroups are separated by spacers of 5-37 atoms in length. The optimal ligand had Ki of 5.1 microM in comparison with 3.12 microM for methyl alpha-D-mannopyranoside. The monoantennary compound and, to certain extents, one di- and short tri-antennary ligands with short spacer lengths did not differ significantly in affinity from methyl alpha-D-mannopyranoside. A triantennary, radiolabelled ligand equipped with a photolabile diazirino group was used to covalently modify Con A by photoaffinity labelling. A significant degree of covalent cross-linking of Con A monomers was observed.

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.

A spacer-modified disaccharide as a photoaffinity reagent for the acceptor-binding area of bovine (1----4)-beta-D-galactosyltransferase: comparison of its acceptor properties with those of other 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranosides

The spacer-modified disaccharide 1,10-di-O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-2-azi-1,10- decanediol (10) that mimics the biantennary core heptasaccharide of N-glycoproteins has been synthesised. Compound 10 is an excellent acceptor in galactosyltransferase-catalysed galactosylation by UDP-galactose, is superior (7-8-fold) to analogues that have only one GlcNAc unit, and is an efficient photoaffinity reagent for galactosyltransferase. In the presence of UDP-Gal, no photoaffinity labelling by 10 takes place, which agrees with the mechanism of galactosyltransferase action.