Chemo-enzymatic modification of poly-N-acetyllactosamine (LacNAc) oligomers and N,N-diacetyllactosamine (LacDiNAc) based on galactose oxidase treatment

Synthesis of Azido-Globo H Analogs for Immunogenicity Evaluation

Globo H (GH) is a tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen (TACA), and GH conjugations have been evaluated as potential cancer vaccines. However, like all carbohydrate-based vaccines, low immunogenicity is a major issue. Modifications of the TACA increase its immunogenicity, but the systemic modification on GH is challenging and the synthesis is cumbersome. In this study, we synthesized several azido-GH analogs for evaluation, using galactose oxidase to selectively oxidize C6-OH of the terminal galactose or N-acetylgalactosamine on lactose, Gb3, Gb4, and SSEA3 into C6 aldehyde, which was then transformed chemically to the azido group. The azido-derivatives were further glycosylated to azido-GH analogs by glycosyltransferases coupled with sugar nucleotide regeneration. These azido-GH analogs and native GH were conjugated to diphtheria toxoid cross-reactive material CRM197 for vaccination with C34 adjuvant in mice. Glycan array analysis of antisera indicated that the azido-GH glycoconjugate with azide at Gal-C6 of Lac (1-CRM197) elicited the highest antibody response not only to GH, SSEA3, and SSEA4, which share the common SSEA3 epitope, but also to MCF-7 cancer cells, which express these Globo-series glycans.

Epithelial apical glycosylation changes associated with thin endometrium in women with infertility - a pilot observational study

BACKGROUND

Low endometrial receptivity is one of the major factors affecting successful implantation in assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Infertile patients with thin endometrium have a significantly lower cumulative clinical pregnancy rate than patients with normal endometrium. Molecular pathophysiology of low receptivity of thin endometrium remains understudied. We have investigated composition of glycocalyx of the apical surface of luminal and glandular epithelial cells in thin endometrium of infertile women.

METHODS

Thirty-two patients with tubal-peritoneal infertility undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) were included in the study. Endometrial samples were obtained in a natural menstrual cycle. Patients were divided into two groups: patients with normal endometrium (≥8 mm) and with thin endometrium (< 8 mm). Histochemical and immunohistochemical analysis of paraffin-embedded endometrial samples was performed using six biotinylated lectins (UEA-I, MAL-II, SNA, VVL, ECL, Con A) and anti-LeY and MECA-79 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs).

RESULTS

Complex glycans analysis taking into account the adjusted specificity of glycan-binding MAbs revealed 1.3 times less expression of MECA-79 glycans on the apical surface of the luminal epithelial cells of thin endometrium compared to normal endometrium; this deficiency may adversely affect implantation, since MECA-79 glycans are a ligand of L-selectin and mediate intercellular interactions. The glycans containing a type-2 unit Galβ1-4GlcNAcβ (LacNAc) but lacking sulfo-residues at 6-OH of GlcNAcβ, and binding to MECA-79 MAbs were found; they can be considered as potential markers of endometrium receptivity. Expression of the lectins-stained glycans on the apical surfaces of the luminal and glandular epithelial cells did not differ significantly. Correlation between the expression of difucosylated oligosaccharide LeY on the apical surfaces of the luminal and glandular epithelial cells was found in patients with thin endometrium and recurrent implantation failure. A similar relationship was shown for mannose-rich glycans.

CONCLUSIONS

Specific features of key glycans expression in epithelial compartments of thin endometrium may be essential for morphogenesis of the endometrial functional layer and explain its low receptivity.

Access to Galectin-3 Inhibitors from Chemoenzymatic Synthons

Chemoenzymatic strategies are useful for providing both regio- and stereoselective access to bioactive oligosaccharides. We show herein that a glycosynthase mutant of a Thermus thermophilus α-glycosidase can react with unnatural glycosides such as 6-azido-6-deoxy-d-glucose/glucosamine to lead to β-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→3)-d-glucopyranoside or β-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→3)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucopyranoside derivatives bearing a unique azide function. Taking advantage of the orthogonality between the azide and the hydroxyl functional groups, the former was next selectively reacted to give rise to a library of galectin-3 inhibitors. Combining enzyme substrate promiscuity and bioorthogonality thus appears as a powerful strategy to rapidly access to sugar-based ligands.

Metabolic engineering challenges of extending N-glycan pathways in Chinese hamster ovary cells

In mammalian cells, N-glycans may include multiple N-acetyllactosamine (poly-LacNAc) units that can play roles in various cellular functions and properties of therapeutic recombinant proteins. Previous studies indicated that β-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase 2 (B3GNT2) and β-1,4-galactotransferase 1 (B4GALT1) are two of the primary glycosyltransferases involved in generating LacNAc units. In the current study, knocking out sialyltransferase genes slightly enhanced the LacNAc content (≥4 repeats per glycan) on recombinant EPO protein. Next, the role of single and dual-overexpression of B3GNT2 and B4GALT1 was explored in recombinant EPO-expressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. While overexpression of B4GALT1 slightly enhanced the levels of large glycans on recombinant EPO, overexpression of B3GNT2 in EPO-expressing CHO cells significantly decreased the recombinant EPO LacNAc content, resulting in N-glycans terminating primarily with GlcNAc structures, a limited number of Gals, and nearly undetectable sialylation, which was also observed in sialyltransferases knock-out-B3GNT2 overexpression cell lines. Considering the nature of the binding domain motifs present on B3GNT2, which evolved from β1,3-galactosyltransferases, its overexpression may have competed and inhibited endogenous β1,4-galactosyltransferases for exposed GlcNAc residues on the N-glycans, resulting in premature termination of many N-glycans at GlcNAc. Furthermore, B3GNT2 overexpression enhanced intracellular UDP-GlcNAc and CMP-Neu5Ac content while slightly lowering UDP-Gal content. The presence of a sink for UDP-GlcNAc in the form of B3GNT2 with no disposition may have also elevated the intracellular levels of this nucleotide as well as its downstream product, CMP-Neu5Ac. Furthermore, we were unable to overexpress B4GALT1 at either the transcriptional or translational levels following initial B3GNT2 expression. Expression of B3GNT2 following initial expression of B4GALT1 was also problematic in that transcriptional and translational analysis indicated the accumulation of truncated B3GNT2 missing a section of the B3GNT2 trans-Golgi lumen domain while transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains were present. Given that glycosylation is a very complex intra-network process, the addition of one or more recombinant glycosyltransferases may have an unexpected influence on the expression and activities of glycosyltransferases, which can disrupt the nucleotide sugar levels and lead to unexpected modifications of the resulting N-glycan patterns.

Redox-Controlled Site-Specific α2-6-Sialylation

The first bacterial α2-6-sialyltransferase cloned from Photobacterium damselae (Pd2,6ST) has been widely applied for the synthesis of various α2-6-linked sialosides. However, the extreme substrate flexibility of Pd2,6ST makes it unsuitable for site-specific α2-6-sialylation of complex substrates containing multiple galactose and/or N-acetylgalactosamine units. To tackle this problem, a general redox-controlled site-specific sialylation strategy using Pd2,6ST is described. This approach features site-specific enzymatic oxidation of galactose units to mask the unwanted sialylation sites and precisely controlling the site-specific α2-6-sialylation at intact galactose or N-acetylgalactosamine units.

Galectin-Carbohydrate Interactions in Biomedicine and Biotechnology

Cellular communication events are mediated by interactions between cell-surface sugars and lectins, which are carbohydrate-binding proteins. Galectins are β-galactosyl-binding lectins that bridge molecules by their sugar moieties, forming a signaling and adhesion network. Severe changes in glycosylation and galectin expression accompany major processes in oncogenesis, cardiovascular disorders, and other pathologies, making galectins attractive therapeutic targets. Here we discuss advanced strategies of chemo-enzymatic carbohydrate synthesis for creating lead glycomimetics and (neo-)glycoconjugates for galectin-1 and -3 targeting in biomedicine and biotechnology. We will describe the challenges and bottlenecks on the route into biomedical and biotechnological practice and present the first clinical candidates. The coming era will see an exciting translation of selective well-defined high-affinity galectin ligands from bench to bedside.

Poly-N-Acetyllactosamine Neo-Glycoproteins as Nanomolar Ligands of Human Galectin-3: Binding Kinetics and Modeling

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is recognized as a prognostic marker in several cancer types. Its involvement in tumor development and proliferation makes this lectin a promising target for early cancer diagnosis and anti-cancer therapies. Gal-3 recognizes poly-N-acetyllactosamine (LacNAc)-based carbohydrate motifs of glycoproteins and glycolipids with a high specificity for internal LacNAc epitopes. This study analyzes the mode and kinetics of binding of Gal-3 to a series of multivalent neo-glycoproteins presenting complex poly-LacNAc-based oligosaccharide ligands on a scaffold of bovine serum albumin. These neo-glycoproteins rank among the strongest Gal-3 ligands reported, with K_d reaching sub-nanomolar values as determined by surface plasmon resonance. Significant differences in the binding kinetics were observed within the ligand series, showing the tetrasaccharide capped with N,N'-diacetyllactosamine (LacdiNAc) as the strongest ligand of Gal-3 in this study. A molecular model of the Gal-3 carbohydrate recognition domain with docked oligosaccharide ligands is presented that shows the relations in the binding site at the molecular level. The neo-glycoproteins presented herein may be applied for selective recognition of Gal-3 both on the cell surface and in blood serum.

Characterisation of a Bacterial Galactokinase with High Activity and Broad Substrate Tolerance for Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of 6-Aminogalactose-1-Phosphate and Analogues

Glycosyl phosphates are important intermediates in many metabolic pathways and are substrates for diverse carbohydrate-active enzymes. Thus, there is a need to develop libraries of structurally similar analogues that can be used as selective chemical probes in glycomics. Here, we explore chemoenzymatic cascades for the fast generation of glycosyl phosphate libraries without protecting-group strategies. The key enzyme is a new bacterial galactokinase (LgGalK) cloned from Leminorella grimontii, which was produced in Escherichia coli and shown to catalyse 1-phosphorylation of galactose. LgGalK displayed a broad substrate tolerance, being able to catalyse the 1-phosphorylation of a number of galactose analogues, including 3-deoxy-3-fluorogalactose and 4-deoxy-4-fluorogalactose, which were first reported to be substrates for wild-type galactokinase. LgGalK and galactose oxidase variant M₁ were combined in a one-pot, two-step system to synthesise 6-oxogalactose-1-phosphate and 6-oxo-2-fluorogalactose-1-phosphate, which were subsequently used to produce a panel of 30 substituted 6-aminogalactose-1-phosphate derivatives by chemical reductive amination in a one-pot, three-step chemoenzymatic process.

Tailored Multivalent Neo-Glycoproteins: Synthesis, Evaluation, and Application of a Library of Galectin-3-Binding Glycan Ligands

Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a member of the β-galactoside-binding lectin family, is a tumor biomarker and involved in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Gal-3 is therefore considered as a promising target for early cancer diagnosis and anticancer therapy. We here present the synthesis of a library of tailored multivalent neo-glycoproteins and evaluate their Gal-3 binding properties. By the combinatorial use of glycosyltransferases and chemo-enzymatic reactions, we first synthesized a set of N-acetyllactosamine (Galβ1,4GlcNAc; LacNAc type 2)-based oligosaccharides featuring five different terminating glycosylation epitopes, respectively. Neo-glycosylation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) was accomplished by dialkyl squarate coupling to lysine residues resulting in a library of defined multivalent neo-glycoproteins. Solid-phase binding assays with immobilized neo-glycoproteins revealed distinct affinity and specificity of the multivalent glycan epitopes for Gal-3 binding. In particular, neo-glycoproteins decorated with N',N″-diacetyllactosamine (GalNAcβ1,4GlcNAc; LacdiNAc) epitopes showed high selectivity and were demonstrated to capture Gal-3 from human serum with high affinity. Furthermore, neo-glycoproteins with terminal biotinylated LacNAc glycan motif could be utilized as Gal-3 detection agents in a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay format. We conclude that, in contrast to antibody-based capture steps, the presented neo-glycoproteins are highly useful to detect functionally intact Gal-3 with high selectivity and avidity. We further gain novel insights into the binding affinity of Gal-3 using tailored multivalent neo-glycoproteins, which have the potential for an application in the context of cancer-related biomedical research.

Biotinylated N-Acetyllactosamine- and N,N-Diacetyllactosamine-Based Oligosaccharides as Novel Ligands for Human Galectin-3

Galectin inhibitor design is an emerging research field due to the involvement of galectins in cancer. Galectin-3, in particular, plays an important role in tumor progression. To generate inhibitors, modifications of the glycan structure can be introduced. Conjugation of hydrophobic compounds to saccharides has proven to be promising as increased binding of galectin-3 can be observed. In the present study, we report on neo-glycans carrying hydrophobic biotin as novel ligands for human galectin-3. We modified N-acetyllactosamine- and N,N-diacetyllactosamine-based tetrasaccharides at the C6-position of the terminal saccharide unit using selective enzymatic oxidation and subsequent chemical conjugation of biotinamidohexanoic acid hydrazide. These neo-glycans were much better bound by galectin-3 than the unmodified counterparts. High selectivity for galectin-3 over galectin-1 was also proven. We generated multivalent neo-glycoproteins by conjugation of neo-glycans to bovine serum albumin showing high affinity for galectin-3. Compared to non-biotinylated neo-glycoproteins, we achieved high binding levels of galectin-3 with a lesser amount of conjugated neo-glycans. Multivalent ligand presentation of neo-glycoproteins significantly increased the inhibitory potency towards galectin-3 binding to asialofetuin when compared to free monovalent glycans. Our findings show the positive impact of 6-biotinylation of tetrasaccharides on galectin-3 binding, which broadens the recent design approaches for producing high-affinity ligands.

Multiplexed Capillary Electrophoresis as Analytical Tool for Fast Optimization of Multi-Enzyme Cascade Reactions - Synthesis of Nucleotide Sugars: Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Vladimir Křen on the occasion of his 60th birthday

Nucleotide sugars are considered as bottleneck and expensive substrates for enzymatic glycan synthesis using Leloir-glycosyltransferases. Synthesis from cheap substrates such as monosaccharides is accomplished by multi-enzyme cascade reactions. Optimization of product yields in such enzyme modules is dependent on the interplay of multiple parameters of the individual enzymes and governed by a considerable time effort when convential analytic methods like capillary electrophoresis (CE) or HPLC are applied. We here demonstrate for the first time multiplexed CE (MP-CE) as fast analytical tool for the optimization of nucleotide sugar synthesis with multi-enzyme cascade reactions. We introduce a universal separation method for nucleotides and nucleotide sugars enabling us to analyze the composition of six different enzyme modules in a high-throughput format. Optimization of parameters (T, pH, inhibitors, kinetics, cofactors and enzyme amount) employing MP-CE analysis is demonstrated for enzyme modules for the synthesis of UDP-α-D-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcA) and UDP-α-D-galactose (UDP-Gal). In this way we achieve high space-time-yields: 1.8 g/L⋆h for UDP-GlcA and 17 g/L⋆h for UDP-Gal. The presented MP-CE methodology has the impact to be used as general analytical tool for fast optimization of multi-enzyme cascade reactions.

Quantification of plant cell wall monosaccharides by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with 2-aminobenzamide pre-column derivatization and a non-toxic reducing reagent 2-picoline borane

In this report, we described a sensitive method for quantifying plant cell wall monosaccharides using chemical derivatization, reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography separation with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV). Monosaccharides were derivatized with 2-aminobenzamide (2-AB) by reductive amination to increase the hydrophobicity and detected by ultraviolet absorption for HPLC-UV analysis. A non-toxic reductant, 2-picoline borane was utilized to replace the traditionally used sodium cyanoborohydride (NaCNBH3) to avoid the formation of toxic by-products. Experimental conditions were optimized using glucose as a model system to achieve a high reaction yield of 99%. Under the optimized conditions, we demonstrated that the derivatization yields of several saccharides with 2-AB using 2-picoline borane were all slightly higher than those observed using NaCNBH3. In plants, cell wall monosaccharides consist of arabinose, fucose, galactose, galacturonic acid, glucose, glucuronic acid, mannose, rhamnose, and xylose. Using our method, we successfully quantified these monosaccharides from Arabidopsis cell wall by HPLC-UV, and we obtained a good linearity at a wide dynamic range over five orders (1pmol through 10nmol of injection amount), a detection limit of ∼0.1pmole, and a high precision and accuracy.

Galectin Binding to Neo-Glycoproteins: LacDiNAc Conjugated BSA as Ligand for Human Galectin-3

Carbohydrate-lectin interactions are relatively weak. As they play an important role in biological recognition processes, multivalent glycan ligands are designed to enhance binding affinity and inhibitory potency. We here report on novel neo-glycoproteins based on bovine serum albumin as scaffold for multivalent presentation of ligands for galectins. We prepared two kinds of tetrasaccharides (N-acetyllactosamine and N,N-diacetyllactosamine terminated) by multi-step chemo-enzymatic synthesis utilizing recombinant glycosyltransferases. Subsequent conjugation of these glycans to lysine groups of bovine serum albumin via squaric acid diethyl ester yielded a set of 22 different neo-glycoproteins with tuned ligand density. The neo-glycoproteins were analyzed by biochemical and chromatographic methods proving various modification degrees. The neo-glycoproteins were used for binding and inhibition studies with human galectin-3 showing high affinity. Binding strength and inhibition potency are closely related to modification density and show binding enhancement by multivalent ligand presentation. At galectin-3 concentrations comparable to serum levels of cancer patients, we detect the highest avidities. Selectivity of N,N-diacetyllactosamine terminated structures towards galectin-3 in comparison to galectin-1 is demonstrated. Moreover, we also see strong inhibitory potency of our scaffolds towards galectin-3 binding. These novel neo-glycoproteins may therefore serve as selective and strong galectin-3 ligands in cancer related biomedical research.

The substrate tolerance of alcohol oxidases

Alcohols are a rich source of compounds from renewable sources, but they have to be activated in order to allow the modification of their carbon backbone. The latter can be achieved via oxidation to the corresponding aldehydes or ketones. As an alternative to (thermodynamically disfavoured) nicotinamide-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases, alcohol oxidases make use of molecular oxygen but their application is under-represented in synthetic biotransformations. In this review, the mechanism of copper-containing and flavoprotein alcohol oxidases is discussed in view of their ability to accept electronically activated or non-activated alcohols and their propensity towards over-oxidation of aldehydes yielding carboxylic acids. In order to facilitate the selection of the optimal enzyme for a given biocatalytic application, the substrate tolerance of alcohol oxidases is compiled and discussed: Substrates are classified into groups (non-activated prim- and sec-alcohols; activated allylic, cinnamic and benzylic alcohols; hydroxy acids; sugar alcohols; nucleotide alcohols; sterols) together with suitable alcohol oxidases, their microbial source, relative activities and (stereo)selectivities.

Expression, purification, and characterization of galactose oxidase of Fusarium sambucinum in E. coli

A gene encoding a galactose oxidase (GalOx) was isolated from Fusarium sambucinum cultures and overexpressed in Escherichia coli yielding 4.4mg enzyme per L of growth culture with a specific activity of 159Umg(-1). By adding a C-terminal His-tag the enzyme could be easily purified with a single affinity chromatography step with high recovery rate (90%). The enzyme showed a single band on SDS-PAGE with an apparent molecular mass of 68.5kDa. The pH optimum for the oxidation of galactose was in the range of pH 6-7.5. Optimum temperature for the enzyme activity was 35°C, with a half-life of 11.2min, 5.3min, and 2.7min for incubation at 40°C, 50°C, and 60°C, respectively. From all tested substrates, the highest relative activity was found for 1-methyl-β-galactopyranoside (226Umg(-1)) and the highest catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) for melibiose (2700mM(-1)s(-1)). The enzyme was highly specific for molecular oxygen as an electron acceptor, and showed no appreciable activity with a range of alternative acceptors investigated. Different chemicals were tested for their effect on GalOx activity. The activity was significantly reduced by EDTA, NaN3, and KCN.

Deciphering the glycogenome of schistosomes

Schistosoma mansoni and other Schistosoma sp. are multicellular parasitic helminths (worms) that infect humans and mammals worldwide. Infection by these parasites, which results in developmental maturation and sexual differentiation of the worms over a period of 5–6 weeks, induces antibodies to glycan antigens expressed in surface and secreted glycoproteins and glycolipids. There is growing interest in defining these unusual parasite-synthesized glycan antigens and using them to understand immune responses, their roles in immunomodulation, and in using glycan antigens as potential vaccine targets. A key problem in this area, however, has been the lack of information about the enzymes involved in elaborating the complex repertoire of glycans represented by the schistosome glycome. Recent availability of the nuclear genome sequences for Schistosoma sp. has created the opportunity to define the glycogenome, which represents the specific genes and cognate enzymes that generate the glycome. Here we describe the current state of information in regard to the schistosome glycogenome and glycome and highlight the important classes of glycans and glycogenes that may be important in their generation.

Rational design of a glycosynthase by the crystal structure of β-galactosidase from Bacillus circulans (BgaC) and its use for the synthesis of N-acetyllactosamine type 1 glycan structures

The crystal structure of β-galactosidase from Bacillus circulans (BgaC) was determined at 1.8Å resolution. The overall structure of BgaC consists of three distinct domains, which are the catalytic domain with a TIM-barrel structure and two all-β domains (ABDs). The main-chain fold and steric configurations of the acidic and aromatic residues at the active site were very similar to those of Streptococcus pneumoniae β(1,3)-galactosidase BgaC in complex with galactose. The structure of BgaC was used for the rational design of a glycosynthase. BgaC belongs to the glycoside hydrolase family 35. The essential nucleophilic amino acid residue has been identified as glutamic acid at position 233 by site-directed mutagenesis. Construction of the active site mutant BgaC-Glu233Gly gave rise to a galactosynthase transferring the sugar moiety from α-d-galactopyranosyl fluoride (αGalF) to different β-linked N-acetylglucosamine acceptor substrates in good yield (40-90%) with a remarkably stable product formation. Enzymatic syntheses with BgaC-Glu233Gly afforded the stereo- and regioselective synthesis of β1-3-linked key galactosides like galacto-N-biose or lacto-N-biose.

Effects of temperature and glycerol and methanol-feeding profiles on the production of recombinant galactose oxidase in Pichia pastoris

Optimization of protein production from methanol-induced Pichia pastoris cultures is necessary to ensure high productivity rates and high yields of recombinant proteins. We investigated the effects of temperature and different linear or exponential methanol-feeding rates on the production of recombinant Fusarium graminearum galactose oxidase (EC 1.1.3.9) in a P. pastoris Mut⁺ strain, under regulation of the AOX1 promoter. We found that low exponential methanol feeding led to 1.5-fold higher volumetric productivity compared to high exponential feeding rates. The duration of glycerol feeding did not affect the subsequent product yield, but longer glycerol feeding led to higher initial biomass concentration, which would reduce the oxygen demand and generate less heat during induction. A linear and a low exponential feeding profile led to productivities in the same range, but the latter was characterized by intense fluctuations in the titers of galactose oxidase and total protein. An exponential feeding profile that has been adapted to the apparent biomass concentration results in more stable cultures, but the concentration of recombinant protein is in the same range as when constant methanol feeding is employed. © 2014 The Authors Biotechnology Progress published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 30:728–735, 2014