Evidence supporting a late Golgi location for lactosylceramide to ganglioside GM3 conversion

Glycolipid transfer protein expression is affected by glycosphingolipid synthesis

Members of the glycolipid transfer protein superfamily (GLTP) are found from animals and fungi to plants and red micro-alga. Eukaryotes that encode the glucosylceramide synthase responsible for the synthesis of glucosylceramide, the precursor for most glycosphingolipids, also produce GLTPs. Cells that does not synthesize glucosylceramide neither express GLTPs. Based on this genetic relationship there must be a strong correlation between the synthesis of glucosylceramide and GLTPs. To regulate the levels of glycolipids we have used inhibitors of intracellular trafficking, glycosphingolipid synthesis and degradation, and small interfering RNA to down-regulate the activity of glucosylceramide synthase activity. We found that GLTP expression, both at the mRNA and protein levels, is elevated in cells that accumulate glucosylceramide. Monensin and brefeldin A block intracellular vesicular transport mechanisms. Brefeldin A treatment leads to accumulation of newly synthesized glucosylceramide, galactosylceramide and lactosylceramide in a fused endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi complex. On the other hand, inhibiting glycosphingolipid degradation with conduritol-B-epoxide, that generates glucosylceramide accumulation in the lysosomes, did not affect the levels of GLTP. However, glycosphingolipid synthesis inhibitors like PDMP, NB-DNJ and myriocin, all decreased glucosylceramide and GLTP below normal levels. We also found that an 80% loss of glucosylceramide due to glucosylceramide synthase knockdown resulted in a significant reduction in the expression of GLTP. We show here that interfering with membrane trafficking events and simple neutral glycosphingolipid synthesis will affect the expression of GLTP. We postulate that a change in the glucosylceramide balance causes a response in the GLTP expression, and put forward that GLTP might play a role in lipid directing and sensing of glucosylceramide at the ER-Golgi interface.

Impact of sphingomyelin synthase 1 deficiency on sphingolipid metabolism and atherosclerosis in mice

OBJECTIVE

Sphingomyelin synthase (SMS) catalyzes the conversion of ceramide to sphingomyelin and sits at the crossroads of sphingolipid biosynthesis. SMS has 2 isoforms: SMS1 and SMS2. Although they have the same SMS activity, they are different enzymes with distinguishable subcellular localizations and cell expression patterns. It is conceivable that these differences could yield different consequences, in terms of sphingolipid metabolism and its related atherogenesis.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We created Sms1 gene knockout mice and found that Sms1 deficiency significantly decreased plasma, liver, and macrophage sphingomyelin (59%, 45%, and 54%, respectively), but only had a marginal effect on ceramide levels. Surprisingly, we found that Sms1 deficiency dramatically increased glucosylceramide and GM3 levels in plasma, liver, and macrophages (4- to 12-fold), whereas Sms2 deficiency had no such effect. We evaluated the total SMS activity in tissues and found that Sms1 deficiency causes 77% reduction in SMS activity in macrophages, indicating SMS1 is the major SMS in macrophages. Moreover, Sms1-deficient macrophages have a significantly higher glucosylceramide synthase activity. We also found that Sms1 deficiency significantly attenuated toll-like 4 receptor-mediated nuclear factor-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation after lipopolysaccharide treatment. To evaluate atherogenicity, we transplanted Sms1 knockout mouse bone marrow into low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice (Sms1(-/-)→Ldlr(-/-)). After 3 months on a western diet, these animals showed a significant decrease of atherosclerotic lesions in the root and the entire aorta (35% and 44%, P<0.01, respectively) and macrophage content in lesions (51%, P<0.05), compared with wild-type→Ldlr(-/-) mice.

CONCLUSIONS

Sms1 deficiency decreases sphingomyelin, but dramatically increases the levels of glycosphingolipids. Atherosclerosis in Sms1(-/-)→Ldlr(-/-) mice is significantly decreased.

Quantitative transcriptomic profiling of branching in a glycosphingolipid biosynthetic pathway

Cellular biosynthesis of macromolecules often involves highly branched enzyme pathways, thus cellular regulation of such pathways could be rather difficult. To understand the regulatory mechanism, a systematic approach could be useful. We genetically analyzed a branched biosynthetic pathway for glycosphingolipid (GSL) GM1 using correlation index-based responsible enzyme gene screening (CIRES), a novel quantitative phenotype-genotype correlation analysis. CIRES utilizes transcriptomic profiles obtained from multiple cells. Among a panel of B cell lines, expression of GM1 was negatively correlated with and suppressed by gene expression of CD77 synthase (CD77Syn), whereas no significant positive correlation was found for enzymes actually biosynthesizing GM1. Unexpectedly, a GM1-suppressive phenotype was also observed in the expression of catalytically inactive CD77Syn, ruling out catalytic consumption of lactosylceramide (LacCer) as the main cause for such negative regulation. Rather, CD77Syn seemed to limit other branching reaction(s) by targeting LacCer synthase (LacCerSyn), a proximal enzyme in the pathway, because they were closely localized in the Golgi apparatus and formed a complex. Moreover, turnover of LacCerSyn was accelerated upon CD77Syn expression to globally change the GSL species expressed. Collectively, these data suggest that transcriptomic assessment of macromolecule biosynthetic pathways can disclose a global regulatory mechanism(s) even when unexpected.

Cellular and molecular biology of glycosphingolipid glycosylation

Brain tissue is characterized by its high glycosphingolipid content, particularly those containing sialic acid (gangliosides). As a result of this observation, brain tissue was a focus for studies leading to the characterization of the enzymes participating in ganglioside biosynthesis, and their participation in driving the compositional changes that occur in glycolipid expression during brain development. Later on, this focus shifted to the study of cellular aspects of the synthesis, which lead to the identification of the site of synthesis in the neuronal soma and their axonal transport toward the periphery. In this review article, we will focus in subcellular aspects of the biosynthesis of glycosphingolipid oligosaccharides, particularly the mechanisms underlying the trafficking of glycosphingolipid glycosyltransferases from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi, those that promote their retention in the Golgi and those that participate in their topological organization as part of the complex membrane bound machinery for the synthesis of glycosphingolipids.

Ganglioside GM3 and its biological functions

Metabolism, topology, and possible mechanisms for regulation of the ganglioside GM3 content in the cell are reviewed. Under consideration are biological functions of GM3, such as involvement in cell differentiation, proliferation, oncogenesis, and apoptosis.

Glycosylation of glycolipids in the Golgi complex

Gangliosides are a family of glycolipids characterized by containing a variable number of sialic acid residues. Nearly, all animal cells contain at least some class of ganglioside in their membranes, but membranes from the CNS are characterized by their high content of these lipids. The synthesis of the oligosaccharide moiety of glycolipids is carried out in the Golgi complex. In this study, I will discuss the cellular and molecular basis of the organization of the glycosylating machinery in the Golgi complex, with particular attention to the mutual relationships, sub-Golgi localization, and intracellular trafficking of glycolipid glycosyltransferases, and to their relationships with the corresponding glycolipid acceptors and sugar nucleotide donors. I will also discuss how the organization of the glycosylating machinery in the Golgi may adapt to events controlling glycolipid expression.

Pre- and post-Golgi translocation of glucosylceramide in glycosphingolipid synthesis

Glycosphingolipids are controlled by the spatial organization of their metabolism and by transport specificity. Using immunoelectron microscopy, we localize to the Golgi stack the glycosyltransferases that produce glucosylceramide (GlcCer), lactosylceramide (LacCer), and GM3. GlcCer is synthesized on the cytosolic side and must translocate across to the Golgi lumen for LacCer synthesis. However, only very little natural GlcCer translocates across the Golgi in vitro. As GlcCer reaches the cell surface when Golgi vesicular trafficking is inhibited, it must translocate across a post-Golgi membrane. Concanamycin, a vacuolar proton pump inhibitor, blocks translocation independently of multidrug transporters that are known to translocate short-chain GlcCer. Concanamycin did not reduce LacCer and GM3 synthesis. Thus, GlcCer destined for glycolipid synthesis follows a different pathway and transports back into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) via the late Golgi protein FAPP2. FAPP2 knockdown strongly reduces GM3 synthesis. Overall, we show that newly synthesized GlcCer enters two pathways: one toward the noncytosolic surface of a post-Golgi membrane and one via the ER toward the Golgi lumen LacCer synthase.

Structure and Biology of Self Lipid Antigens

Self lipid antigens induce selection and expansion of autoreactive T cells which have a role in immunoregulation and disease pathogenesis. Here we review the important biological rules which determine lipid immunogenicity. The impact of lipid structure, synthesis, traffic, membrane distribution and CD1 loading are discussed.

Modulation of GalT1 and SialT1 sub-Golgi localization by SialT2 expression reveals an organellar level of glycolipid synthesis control

Ganglioside glycosyltransferases organize as multienzyme complexes that localize in different sub-Golgi compartments. Here we studied whether in CHO-K1 cells lacking CMP-NeuAc: GM3 sialyltransferase (SialT2), the sub-Golgi localization of UDP-Gal:glucosylceramide beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase (GalT1) and CMP-NeuAc:lactosylceramide sialyltransferase (SialT1) complex is affected when SialT2, another member of this complex, is coexpressed. GalT1 and SialT1 sub-Golgi localization was determined by studying the effect of brefeldin A (BFA) and monensin on the synthesis of glycolipids and on the sub-Golgi localization of GalT1(1-52)-CFP (cyan fluorescent protein) and SialT1(1-54)-YFP (yellow fluorescent protein) chimeras by single cell fluorescence microscopy and by isopycnic subfractionation. We found that BFA, and also monensin, impair the synthesis of glycolipids beyond GM3 ganglioside in wild type (WT) cells but beyond GlcCer in SialT2(+) cells. Although BFA redistributed GalT1-CFP and SialT1-YFP to the endoplasmic reticulum in WT cells, a fraction of these chimeras remained associated with a distal Golgi compartment, enriched in trans Golgi network, and recycling endosome markers in SialT2(+) cells. In BFA-treated cells, the percentage of GalT1-CFP and SialT1-YFP associated with Golgi-like membrane fractions separated by isopycnic subfractionation was higher in SialT2(+) cells than in WT cells. These effects were reverted by knocking down the expression of SialT2 with specific siRNA. Results indicate that sub-Golgi localization of glycosyltransferase complexes may change according to the relative levels of the expression of participating enzymes and reveal a capacity of the organelle to adapt the topology of the glycolipid synthesis machinery to functional states of the cell.

Human GM3 synthase: a new mRNA variant encodes an NH2-terminal extended form of the protein

All human GM3 synthase mRNA variants until now identified predict a protein of 362 amino acids having substrate activity highly restricted to lactosylceramide. In this report we describe the identification of a new GM3 synthase transcript containing an additional translation start codon, located upstream and in-frame with that up to now considered unique translation initiation site in the human GM3 synthase gene. In vitro expression studies showed that the new transcript produces a longer form of human GM3 synthase, that is efficiently translocated into the microsomal lumen and glycosylated. Moreover, stable cDNA transfection into mammalian cells gives rise to a threefold increase of GM3 synthase activity, associated to a broader substrate specificity. Although this transcript has been initially identified in the human placenta, RT-PCR analyses verified the expression of an identical mRNA also in undifferentiated HL60 cells, but not in the monocytic lineage. Altogether, these results are the first demonstration of the existence of a new isoform of human GM3 synthase, which could play an important role during HL60 cell differentiation. The functional relevance of the existence of two isoforms of GM3 synthase is also discussed.

Cytoplasmic Tails of SialT2 and GalNAcT Impose Their Respective Proximal and Distal Golgi Localization

Complex glycolipid synthesis is catalyzed by different glycosyltransferases resident of the Golgi complex. Most of them are type II membrane proteins comprising a lumenal, C-terminal domain linked to an N-terminal domain (Ntd) constituted by a short cytoplasmic tail (ct), a transmembrane, and a lumenal stem regions. They concentrate selectively in different sub-Golgi compartments, in an overlapped manner, acting in succession in the addition of sugars to acceptor glycolipids. The Ntds are sufficient to localize glycosyltransferases in the Golgi complex, but it is not clear whether they also confer selective concentration in sub-Golgi compartments. Here, we studied whether the Ntd of SialT2, localized in the proximal Golgi, and the one of GalNAcT, a trans/TGN Golgi-concentrated enzyme, concentrate reporter proteins in the corresponding sub-Golgi compartment. The sub-Golgi concentration of the Ntds fused to spectral variants of the GFP was determined in CHO-K1 cells from their behavior upon addition of brefeldin A. Fluorescence microscopy and subcellular fractionation showed that the SialT2 Ntd concentrates in a proximal sub-Golgi compartment - and that of GalNAcT in TGN elements. Exchanging the transmembrane region and the cts of SialT2 and GalNAcT indicates that information for proximal or distal Golgi concentration is associated with the cts.

Diet-induced changes in membrane gangliosides in rat intestinal mucosa, plasma and brain

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to determine if dietary gangliosides induce changes in the ganglioside content of intestinal mucosa, plasma and brain and to identify where GM3 and GD3 are localized in the enterocyte membrane.

METHODS

Male 18-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a semipurified diet containing 20% (w/w) fat. The control diet contained triglyceride, reflecting the fat formulation of an existing infant formula. Two experimental diets were formulated by adding sphingomyelin (1% w/w of total fat) or a ganglioside-enriched lipid (0.1% w/w of total fat) to the control diet fat. The ganglioside fraction of ganglioside-enriched lipid diet contained more than 80% GD3. After 2 weeks of feeding, the total and individual ganglioside and cholesterol content was measured in small intestinal mucosa, plasma and brain.

RESULTS

The ganglioside-enriched lipid diet significantly increased total gangliosides in the intestinal mucosa, plasma and brain compared with the control diet. The ganglioside-enriched lipid diet significantly increased the level of GD3 (7.5% w/w) in the intestine compared with control (3.2% w/w) while decreasing the level of GM3, the major ganglioside in the intestine. The ratio of cholesterol to ganglioside in the intestinal mucosa, plasma and brain decreased significantly in rats fed the ganglioside-enriched lipid diet compared with controls. Confocal microscopy showed that GM3 is exclusively localized in the apical membrane of the enterocyte whereas GD3 is primarily localized in the basolateral membrane.

CONCLUSIONS

: The authors conclude that dietary ganglioside is absorbed in the small intestine and transported to different membrane sites, altering ganglioside levels in the intestinal mucosa, plasma and brain and thus possibly having the potential to change developing enterocyte function (and possibly that of other cell lines).

Role of multiple drug resistance protein 1 in neutral but not acidic glycosphingolipid biosynthesis

Transfection studies have implicated the multiple drug resistance pump, MDR1, as a glucosyl ceramide translocase within the Golgi complex (Lala, P., Ito, S., and Lingwood, C. A. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 6246-6251). We now show that MDR1 inhibitors, cyclosporin A or ketoconazole, inhibit neutral glycosphingolipid biosynthesis in 11 of 12 cell lines tested. The exception, HeLa cells, do not express MDR1. Microsomal lactosyl ceramide and globotriaosyl ceramide synthesis from endogenous or exogenously added liposomal glucosyl ceramide was inhibited by cyclosporin A, consistent with a direct role for MDR1/glucosyl ceramide translocase activity in their synthesis. In contrast, cellular ganglioside synthesis in the same cells, was unaffected by MDR1 inhibition, suggesting neutral and acid glycosphingolipids are synthesized from distinct precursor glycosphingolipid pools. Metabolic labeling in wild type and knock-out (MDR1a, 1b, MRP1) mouse fibroblasts showed the same loss of neutral glycosphingolipid (glucosyl ceramide, lactosyl ceramide) but not ganglioside (GM3) synthesis, confirming the proposed role for MDR1 translocase activity. Cryo-immunoelectron microscopy showed MDR1 was predominantly intracellular, largely in rab6-containing Golgi vesicles and Golgi cisternae, the site of glycosphingolipid synthesis. These studies identify MDR1 as the major glucosyl ceramide flippase required for neutral glycosphingolipid anabolism and demonstrate a previously unappreciated dichotomy between neutral and acid glycosphingolipid synthesis.

Ganglioside glycosyltransferases organize in distinct multienzyme complexes in CHO-K1 cells

The synthesis of gangliosides is compartmentalized in the Golgi complex. In most cells, glycosylation of LacCer, GM3, and GD3 to form higher order species (GA2, GM2, GD2, GM1, GD1b) is displaced toward the most distal aspects of the Golgi and the trans-Golgi network, where the involved transferases (GalNAcT and GalT2) form physical and functional associations. Glycosylation of the simple species LacCer, GM3, and GD3, on the other hand, is displaced toward more proximal Golgi compartments, and we investigate here whether the involved transferases (GalT1, SialT1, and SialT2) share the property of forming physical associations. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments from membranes of CHO-K1 cells expressing epitope-tagged versions of these enzymes indicate that GalT1, SialT1, and SialT2 associate physically in a SialT1-dependent manner and that their N-terminal domains participate in these interactions. Microscopic fluorescence resonance energy transfer and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching in living cells confirmed the interactions, and in addition to showing a Golgi apparatus localization of the complexes, mapped their formation to the endoplasmic reticulum. Neither co-immunoprecipitation nor fluorescence resonance energy transfer detected interactions between either GalT2 or GalNAcT and GalT1 or SialT1 or SialT2. These results, and triple color imaging of Golgi-derived microvesicles in nocodazole-treated cells, suggest that ganglioside synthesis is organized in distinct units each formed by associations of particular glycosyltransferases, which concentrate in different sub-Golgi compartments.

Relations lipides–immunité cutanée : exemple des gangliosides

Gangliosides are glycosphingolipids made of hydrophobic ceramides coupled to hydrophilic sialylated oligosaccharides. They belong to lipid rafts located on the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane and their oligosaccharide moieties are exposed on the cell surface. Gangliosides are shed as monomeric molecules from the plasma membrane by a largely unknown mechanism into the extracellular medium and they are synthesized de novo by the cells. The shed gangliosides bind to lipoproteins from which they are taken up by erythrocytes and leukocytes. The ganglioside enrichment of leukocytes results in an alteration in the transduction of activation signals, leading to an impaired cellular immunity.

Biosynthesis and degradation of mammalian glycosphingolipids

Glycolipids are a large and heterogeneous family of sphingolipids that form complex patterns on eukaryotic cell surfaces. This molecular diversity is generated by only a few enzymes and is a paradigm of naturally occurring combinatorial synthesis. We report on the biosynthetic principles leading to this large molecular diversity and focus on sialic acid-containing glycolipids of the ganglio-series. These glycolipids are particularly concentrated in the plasma membrane of neuronal cells. Their de novo synthesis starts with the formation of the membrane anchor, ceramide, at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and is continued by glycosyltransferases of the Golgi complex. Recent findings from genetically engineered mice are discussed. The constitutive degradation of glycosphingolipids (GSLs) occurs in the acidic compartments, the endosomes and the lysosomes. Here, water-soluble glycosidases sequentially cleave off the terminal carbohydrate residues from glycolipids. For glycolipid substrates with short oligosaccharide chains, the additional presence of membrane-active sphingolipid activator proteins (SAPs) is required. A considerable part of our current knowledge about glycolipid degradation is derived from a class of human diseases, the sphingolipidoses, which are caused by inherited defects within this pathway. A new post-translational modification is the attachment of glycolipids to proteins of the human skin.

Structural requirements for Arabidopsis beta1,2-xylosyltransferase activity and targeting to the Golgi

Characterization of a beta1,2-xylosyltransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtXylT) was carried out by expression in Sf9 insect cells using a baculovirus vector system. Serial deletions at both the N- and C-terminal ends proved that integrity of a large domain located between amino acid 31 and the C-terminal lumenal region is required for AtXylT activity expression. The influence of N-glycosylation on AtXylT activity has been evaluated using either tunicamycin or mutagenesis of potential N-glycosylation sites. AtXylT is glycosylated on two of its three potential N-glycosylation sites (Asn51, Asn301, Asn478) and the occupancy of at least one of these two sites (Asn51 and Asn301) is necessary for AtXylT stability and activity. Contribution of the N-terminal part of AtXylT in targeting and intracellular distribution of this protein was studied by expression of variably truncated, GFP-tagged AtXylT forms in tobacco cells using confocal and electron microscopy. These studies have shown that the transmembrane domain of AtXylT and its short flanking amino acid sequences are sufficient to specifically localize a reporter protein to the medial Golgi cisternae in tobacco cells. This study is the first detailed characterization of a plant glycosyltransferase at the molecular level.

Disulfide bonds of GM2 synthase homodimers. Antiparallel orientation of the catalytic domains

GM2 synthase is a homodimer in which the subunits are joined by lumenal domain disulfide bond(s). To define the disulfide bond pattern of this enzyme, we analyzed a soluble form by chemical fragmentation, enzymatic digestion, and mass spectrometry and a full-length form by site-directed mutagenesis. All Cys residues of the lumenal domain of GM2 synthase are disulfide bonded with Cys(429) and Cys(476) forming a disulfide-bonded pair while Cys(80) and Cys(82) are disulfide bonded in combination with Cys(412) and Cys(529). Partial reduction to produce monomers converted Cys(80) and Cys(82) to free thiols while the Cys(429) to Cys(476) disulfide remained intact. CNBr cleavage at amino acid 330 produced a monomer-sized band under nonreducing conditions which was converted upon reduction to a 40-kDa fragment and a 24-kDa myc-positive fragment. Double mutation of Cys(80) and Cys(82) to Ser produced monomers but not dimers. In summary these results demonstrate that Cys(429) and Cys(476) form an intrasubunit disulfide while the intersubunit disulfides formed by both Cys(80) and Cys(82) with Cys(412) and Cys(529) are responsible for formation of the homodimer. This disulfide bond arrangement results in an antiparallel orientation of the catalytic domains of the GM2 synthase homodimer.