Isolation and structural studies of human milk oligosaccharides that are reactive with a monoclonal antibody MSW 113

Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOS): Structure, Function, and Enzyme-Catalyzed Synthesis

The important roles played by human milk oligosaccharides (HMOS), the third major component of human milk, in the health of breast-fed infants have been increasingly recognized, as the structures of more than 100 different HMOS have now been elucidated. Despite the recognition of the various functions of HMOS as prebiotics, antiadhesive antimicrobials, and immunomodulators, the roles and the applications of individual HMOS species are less clear. This is mainly due to the limited accessibility to large amounts of individual HMOS in their pure forms. Current advances in the development of enzymatic, chemoenzymatic, whole-cell, and living-cell systems allow for the production of a growing number of HMOS in increasing amounts. This effort will greatly facilitate the elucidation of the important roles of HMOS and allow exploration into the applications of HMOS both as individual compounds and as mixtures of defined structures with desired functions. The structures, functions, and enzyme-catalyzed synthesis of HMOS are briefly surveyed to provide a general picture about the current progress on these aspects. Future efforts should be devoted to elucidating the structures of more complex HMOS, synthesizing more complex HMOS including those with branched structures, and developing HMOS-based or HMOS-inspired prebiotics, additives, and therapeutics.

The trail of my studies on glycoproteins from enterokinase to tumor markers

This review describes the results of the author's studies on glycoproteins which have been carried out for more than 50 years. Starting from the elucidation of basic structures of glycoproteins, i.e. the structure of the linkage between an amino acid and a sugar and the occurrence of the beta-mannosidic linkage as the common structure of glycoproteins, the author became interested in the cell membrane glycoproteins focused on the comparison of cancer cells versus normal cells. These studies were then extended to the establishment of sugar-directed and cancer-associated monoclonal antibodies. Some of the monoclonal antibodies are useful for cancer diagnosis.

The third chains of living organisms—a trail of glycobiology that started from the third floor of building 4 in NIH

Application of a finger-printing method to the analysis of human milk oligosaccharides led to the finding that several oligosaccharides were missing in the milk of non-secretor or Lewis-negative individuals. This finding helped us in opening the door of elucidating the enzymatic basis of blood types in human. Based on these successful studies, a strategy to establish reliable techniques to elucidate the structures and functions of the N-linked sugar chains of glycoproteins was devised. It was to contrive enzymatic and chemical means to release quantitatively the N-linked sugar chains as oligosaccharides, and finger-print them by using appropriate methods to demonstrate the sugar pattern of a glycoprotein. These methods enabled us to determine that the N-linked sugar chains of glycoproteins can be classified into three subgroups: high mannose-type, complex-type, and hybrid-type. By comparative studies of the sugar patterns of a glycoprotein produced by different organs and different animals, occurrences of organ- and species-specific glycosylation were found in many glycoproteins. By comparative studies of the glycosylation patterns of the subunits constructing human chorionic gonadotropin and other glycoproteins, occurrence of site-directed N-glycosylation was also found, indicating that the processing and maturation of the N-linked sugar chains of a glycoprotein might be controlled by the structure of polypeptide moiety. Furthermore, these methods enabled us to elucidate the structural alteration of the sugar chains of a glycoprotein induced by diseased state of the producing cells, such as rheumatoid arthritis and malignancy. Recent studies of glycoproteins in the brain-nervous system through aging revealed that N-glycosylation of P(0) in the rat spinal cord is induced by aging. Therefore, glycobiology is expanding tremendously into fields such as pathological and gerontological research.

The role and potential of sialic acid in human nutrition

Sialic acids are a family of nine-carbon acidic monosaccharides that occur naturally at the end of sugar chains attached to the surfaces of cells and soluble proteins. In the human body, the highest concentration of sialic acid (as N-acetylneuraminic acid) occurs in the brain where it participates as an integral part of ganglioside structure in synaptogenesis and neural transmission. Human milk also contains a high concentration of sialic acid attached to the terminal end of free oligosaccharides, but its metabolic fate and biological role are currently unknown. An important question is whether the sialic acid in human milk is a conditional nutrient and confers developmental advantages on breast-fed infants compared to those fed infant formula. In this review, we critically discuss the current state of knowledge of the biology and role of sialic acid in human milk and nervous tissue, and the link between sialic acid, breastfeeding and learning behaviour.

1H NMR analysis of novel sialylated and fucosylated lactose-based oligosaccharides having linear GlcNAc(beta 1-6) Gal and Neu5Ac(alpha 2-6) GlcNAc sequences

Three novel oligosaccharides of human infant faeces have been fully characterised by methylation analysis and 500/600 MHz 1H NMR spectroscopy including DQF-COSY, TQF-COSY, TOCSY and ROESY experiments. The oligosaccharides were shown to be lactose-based structures two of which were substituted at C-6 of Gal with either the Le(x) trisaccharide, Gal(beta 1-4)[Fuc(alpha 1-3)]GlcNAc(beta 1-, or Neu5Ac(alpha 2-6)Gal(beta 1-4)GlcNAc(beta 1-. They differ from other free oligosaccharides previously isolated from the human by having the (1-->6) linkage to Gal in the absence of a (1-->3) branch. The third oligosaccharide has Neu5Ac(alpha 2-6) linked to GlcNAc of the trisaccharide GlcNAc(beta 1-3)Gal(beta 1-4)Glc. This is a linear fragment of the disialylated tetrasaccharide sequence Neu5Ac(alpha 2-3)Gal(beta 1-3)[Neu5Ac(alpha 2-6)]GlcNAc(beta 1-found in the milk oligosaccharide disialyl LNT (the GlcNAc residue of the tetrasaccharide linked to lactose) and also of N-linked chains (GlcNAc linked to Man).