The conundrum of UDP-Glc entrance into the yeast ER lumen
UDP-Glc entrance into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of eukaryotic cells is a key step in the quality control of glycoprotein folding, a mechanism requiring transfer of a Glc residue from the nucleotide sugar (NS) to glycoprotein folding intermediates by the UDP-Glc:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase (UGGT). According to a bioinformatics search there are only eight genes in the Schizosaccharomyces pombe genome belonging to the three Pfam families to which all known nucleotide-sugar transporters (NSTs) of the secretory pathway belong. The protein products of two of them (hut1+ and yea4+) localize to the ER, those of genes gms...
Source: Glycobiology - December 27, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Bredeston, L. M., Marino-Buslje, C., Mattera, V. S., Buzzi, L. I., Parodi, A. J., D'Alessio, C. Tags: Cell Biology Source Type: research
Surprising absence of heparin in the intestinal mucosa of baby pigs
Heparin, a member of a family of molecules called glycosaminoglycans, is biosynthesized in mucosal mast cells. This important anticoagulant polysaccharide is primarily produced by extraction of the mast cell-rich intestinal mucosa of hogs. There is concern about our continued ability to supply sufficient heparin to support the worldwide growth of advanced medical procedures from the static population of adult hogs used as food animals. While the intestinal mucosa of adult pigs is rich in anticoagulant heparin (containing a few hundred milligrams per animal), little is known about how the content of heparin changes with ani...
Source: Glycobiology - December 27, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Yu, Y., Chen, Y., Mikael, P., Zhang, F., Stalcup, A. M., German, R., Gould, F., Ohlemacher, J., Zhang, H., Linhardt, R. J. Tags: Analytical Glycobiology Source Type: research
High-resolution crystal structures of Colocasia esculenta tarin lectin
Tarin, the Colocasia esculenta lectin from the superfamily of α-d-mannose-specific plant bulb lectins, is a tetramer of 47 kDa composed of two heterodimers. Each heterodimer possesses homologous monomers of ~11.9 (A chain) and ~12.7 (B chain) kDa. The structures of apo and carbohydrate-bound tarin were solved to 1.7 Å and 1.91 Å, respectively. Each tarin monomer forms a canonical β-prism II fold, common to all members of Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) family, which is partially stabilized by a disulfide bond and a conserved hydrophobic core. The heterodimer is formed through domain swapping invol...
Source: Glycobiology - December 27, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Pereira, P. R., Meagher, J. L., Winter, H. C., Goldstein, I. J., Paschoalin, V. M. F., Silva, J. T., Stuckey, J. A. Tags: Communication Source Type: research
Biological roles of glycans
Simple and complex carbohydrates (glycans) have long been known to play major metabolic, structural and physical roles in biological systems. Targeted microbial binding to host glycans has also been studied for decades. But such biological roles can only explain some of the remarkable complexity and organismal diversity of glycans in nature. Reviewing the subject about two decades ago, one could find very few clear-cut instances of glycan-recognition-specific biological roles of glycans that were of intrinsic value to the organism expressing them. In striking contrast there is now a profusion of examples, such that this up...
Source: Glycobiology - December 27, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Varki, A. Tags: Special Invited Review Source Type: research
Glyco-Forum
(Source: Glycobiology)
Source: Glycobiology - December 27, 2016 Category: Biology Tags: Glyco-Forum Section Source Type: research
Subscription Page
(Source: Glycobiology)
Source: Glycobiology - December 27, 2016 Category: Biology Tags: Cover/Standing Material Source Type: research
Contents Page
(Source: Glycobiology)
Source: Glycobiology - December 27, 2016 Category: Biology Tags: Cover/Standing Material Source Type: research
Editorial Board
(Source: Glycobiology)
Source: Glycobiology - December 27, 2016 Category: Biology Tags: Cover/Standing Material Source Type: research
Program and Abstracts for 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society for Glycobiology
(Source: Glycobiology)
Source: Glycobiology - December 4, 2016 Category: Biology Tags: Abstracts Source Type: research
Interactions of mucins with the Tn or Sialyl Tn cancer antigens including MUC1 are due to GalNAc-GalNAc interactions
The molecular mechanism(s) underlying the enhanced self-interactions of mucins possessing the Tn (GalNAcα1-Ser/Thr) or STn (NeuNAcα2-6GalNAcα1-Ser/Thr) cancer markers were investigated using optical tweezers (OT). The mucins examined included modified porcine submaxillary mucin containing the Tn epitope (Tn-PSM), ovine submaxillary mucin with the STn epitope (STn-OSM), and recombinant MUC1 analogs with either the Tn and STn epitope. OT experiments in which the mucins were immobilized onto polystyrene beads revealed identical self-interaction characteristics for all mucins. Identical binding strength and e...
Source: Glycobiology - December 4, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Haugstad, K. E., Hadjialirezaei, S., Stokke, B. T., Brewer, C. F., Gerken, T. A., Burchell, J., Picco, G., Sletmoen, M. Tags: Glycan Recognition Source Type: research
{alpha}2-6 sialylation is a marker of the differentiation potential of human mesenchymal stem cells
Human somatic stem cells such as human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are considered attractive cell sources for stem cell-based therapy. However, quality control issues have been raised concerning their safety and efficacy. Here we used lectin microarray technology to identify cell surface glycans as markers of the differentiation potential of stem cells. We found that α2–6Sia-specific lectins show stronger binding to early passage adipose-derived hMSCs (with differentiation ability) than late passage cells (without the ability to differentiate). Flow cytometry analysis using α2–6Sia-specific lecti...
Source: Glycobiology - December 4, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Tateno, H., Saito, S., Hiemori, K., Kiyoi, K., Hasehira, K., Toyoda, M., Onuma, Y., Ito, Y., Akutsu, H., Hirabayashi, J. Tags: Original articles Source Type: research
Impact of human galectin-1 binding to saccharide ligands on dimer dissociation kinetics and structure
Endogenous lectins can control critical biological responses, including cell communication, signaling, angiogenesis and immunity by decoding glycan-containing information on a variety of cellular receptors and the extracellular matrix. Galectin-1 (Gal-1), a prototype member of the galectin family, displays only one carbohydrate recognition domain and occurs in a subtle homodimerization equilibrium at physiologic concentrations. Such equilibrium critically governs the function of this lectin signaling by allowing tunable interactions with a preferential set of glycosylated receptors. Here, we used a combination of experimen...
Source: Glycobiology - December 4, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Romero, J. M., Trujillo, M., Estrin, D. A., Rabinovich, G. A., Di Lella, S. Tags: Glycan Recognition Source Type: research
Neutral oligosaccharides in feces of breastfed and formula-fed infants at different ages
Beneficial effects have been proposed for human milk oligosaccharides (HMO), as deduced from in vitro and animal studies. To date, in vivo evidence of the link between certain oligosaccharide structures in milk and their consumption by infant gut microbiota is still missing, although likely. Whereas many studies have described HMO patterns in human milk from larger cohorts, data on the excretion of HMO and possible metabolites produced in the infant gut are still very limited. From smaller-scale studies, an age-dependency according to infant gut maturation and microbiota adaptation has previously been hypothesized. To furt...
Source: Glycobiology - December 4, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Dotz, V., Adam, R., Lochnit, G., Schroten, H., Kunz, C. Tags: Glycan Metabolism Source Type: research
Development of a multifunctional aminoxy-based fluorescent linker for glycan immobilization and analysis
Glycan arrays have become a technique of choice to screen glycan–protein interactions in a high-throughput manner with high sensitivity and low sample consumption. Here, the synthesis of a new multifunctional fluorescent linker for glycan labeling via aminoxy ligation and immobilization is described; the linker features a fluorescent naphthalene group suitable for highly sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography-based purification and an azido- or amino-modified pentanoyl moiety for the immobilization onto solid supports. Several glycoconjugates displaying small sugar epitopes via chemical or chemoenzymatic sy...
Source: Glycobiology - December 4, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Jimenez-Castells, C., Stanton, R., Yan, S., Kosma, P., Wilson, I. B. Tags: Chemical Biology Source Type: research
LARGE2-dependent glycosylation confers laminin-binding ability on proteoglycans
Both LARGE1 (formerly LARGE) and its paralog LARGE2 are bifunctional glycosyltransferases with xylosy- and glucuronyltransferase activities, and are capable of synthesizing polymers composed of a repeating disaccharide [-3Xylα1,3GlcAβ1-]. Post-translational modification of the O-mannosyl glycan of α-dystroglycan (α-DG) with the polysaccharide is essential for it to act as a receptor for ligands in the extracellular matrix (ECM), and both LARGE paralogs contribute to the modification in vivo. LARGE1 and LARGE2 have different tissue distribution profiles and enzymatic properties; however, the...
Source: Glycobiology - December 4, 2016 Category: Biology Authors: Inamori, K.-i., Beedle, A. M., de Bernabe, D. B.-V., Wright, M. E., Campbell, K. P. Tags: Cell Biology Source Type: research
