Eukaryote ribosomes possess a binding site for concanavalin A

Current ideas on the significance of protein glycosylation

Carbohydrate has been removed from a number of glycoproteins without major effect on the structure or enzyme activity of the protein. Thus carbohydrate has been suggested to underly a non-primary function for proteins, such as in relatively non-specific interactions with other carbohydrates or macromolecules, stabilization of protein conformation, or protection from proteolysis. This non-specific concept is consistent with both the general similarity in carbohydrate structure on very diverse glycoproteins and the frequent structural microheterogeneity of carbohydrate chains at given sites. The concept is supported in a general sense by the viability of cells whose glycosylation processes have been globally disrupted by mutation or pharmacological inhibitors. In contrast to the above observations, other studies have revealed the existence of specific, selective receptors for discrete oligosaccharide structures on glycoproteins which seem to be important for compartmentalization of the glycoprotein, or the positioning of cells on which the glycoprotein is concentrated. Sometimes multivalency in the carbohydrate-receptor interaction is crucial. There are additional possible roles for carbohydrate in the transduction of information upon binding to a receptor. The possibility of specific roles for carbohydrate is supported by the existence of numerous unique carbohydrate structures, many of which have been detected as glycoantigens by monoclonal antibodies, with unique distributions in developing and differentiated cells. This article attempts to summarize and rationalize the contradictory results. It appears that in general carbohydrate does in fact underlie only roles secondary to a protein's primary function. These secondary roles are simple non-specific ones of protection and stabilization, but often also satisfy the more sophisticated needs of spatial position control and compartmentalization in multicellular eukaryotic organisms. It is suggested that there are advantages, evolutionarily speaking, for the shared use of carbohydrate for non-specific roles and for specific roles primarily as luxury functions to be executed during the processes of cell differentiation and morphogenesis.

Structure of the mannose-rich oligosaccharide chains of concanavalin A-binding glycopeptides derived from beef brain glycoproteins

A neutral, mannose-rich, concanavalin A (Con A)-binding glycopeptide fraction was obtained by proteolytic digestion of defatted beef brain tissue. Hydrazinolysis followed by gel filtration of the reaction products provided three oligosaccharides. A portion of each oligosaccharide was treated by exhaustive digestion with alpha-mannosidase. Another portion was subjected to selective acetolysis of Man alpha 1 leads to 6Man linkages, providing two fragments that were recovered by gel filtration. The structure of the intact oligosaccharides, as well as the fragments obtained by selective acetolysis and enzymatic treatment, were resolved by gas-liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis. The structures of the three oligosaccharides were: (a) Man alpha 1 leads to 2Man alpha 1 leads to 6(Man alpha 1 leads to 3)Man alpha 1 leads to 6(Man alpha 1 leads to 2Man alpha 1 leads to 2Man alpha 1 leads to 3)Man beta 1 leads to 4-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc)beta 1 leads to 4N-acetylglucosaminitol (GlcOLNAc); (b) Man alpha 1 leads to 2Man alpha 1 leads to 6(Man alpha 1 leads to 3)Man alpha 1 leads to 6(Man alpha 1 leads to 2Man alpha 1 leads to 3)-Man beta 1 leads to 4GlcNAc beta 1 leads to 4GlcOLNAc; and (c) Man alpha 1 leads to 6(Man alpha 1 leads to 3) Man alpha 1 leads to 6(Man alpha 1 leads to 3)Man beta 1 leads to 4GlcNAc-beta 1 leads to 4GlcOLNAc. These structures account for 15-20% of the glycoprotein-carbohydrate of whole beef brain and most of the oligosaccharides that demonstrate a high affinity for Con A. In view of the large number of Con A-binding glycoproteins in brain tissue, it appears that many of these different glycoproteins must contain structurally identical oligosaccharides.

Binding of ricin A chain to rat liver ribosomes: relationship to ribosome inactivation

Ricin A chain was radioactively labeled using reductive alkylation, lactoperoxidase catalyzed iodination, and reaction with iodoacetamide or N-ethylmaleimide (NEM). The inhibition of cell-free rat liver protein synthesis by the modified A chains and the ribosome binding characteristics of each of the labeled derivatives was examined. [3H] NEW was found to quantitatively react with the A chain sulfhydryl group normally involved in a disulfide bond with the B chain in intact ricin. Labeling the protein with [3H] NEM had no effect on the in vitro inhibition of protein synthesis by the A chain. [3H] NEM-labeled A chain binds to rat liver ribosomes in a manner which is dependent on the concentrations of NaCl and Mg2+. At optimal Mg2+ concentration (5.5 mM), A chain binding to ribosomes is saturable and fully reversible either by dilution of the reaction mixture or by addition of unlabeled A chain. At 5.5 mM Mg2+, A chain was found to bind to a single site on rat liver ribosomes with a dissociation constant of 6.2 x 10(-8) M. [3H] NEM-labeled A chain did not bind to isolated 40S ribosomal subunits and bound to 60S ribosomal subunits with a 1 : 1 molar stoichiometry and a dissociation constant of 2.2 x 10(-7) M. The relationship between ribosome binding and A chain inhibition of eucaryotic protein synthesis is discussed.

Enzyme replacement therapy in Gaucher's disease: large-scale purification of glucocerebrosidase suitable for human administration

Enzyme replacement therapy for the alleviation of Gaucher's disease has been impeded because of the difficulty in preparing large amounts of glucocerebrosidase, the enzyme that is deficient in patients with this disorder. A large-scale procedure for the purification of human placental glucocerebrosidase has been developed. The method uses cholate extraction, ammonium sulfate fractionation, acid precipitation, butanol extraction, and hydrophobic chromatography; the final enzyme preparation has a specific activity of more than 10(6) units/mg of protein with an overall recovery of 30%. In addition, the contamination of enzyme preparations, intended for human infusion, prepared by isolation procedures involving concanavalin A columns has been studied and is reported here.