A novel broad specificity fucosidase capable of core α1-6 fucose release from N-glycans labeled with urea-linked fluorescent dyes.

Exoglycosidases are often used for detailed characterization of glycan structures. Bovine kidney α-fucosidase is commonly used to determine the presence of core α1-6 fucose on N-glycans, an important modification of glycoproteins. Recently, several studies have reported that removal of core α1-6-linked fucose from N-glycans labeled with the reactive N-hydroxysuccinimide carbamate fluorescent labels 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidylcarbamate (AQC) and RapiFluor-MS is severely impeded.

Evaluation of a glycoengineered monoclonal antibody via LC-MS analysis in combination with multiple enzymatic digestion.

Glycosylation affects the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics properties of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), and glycoengineering is now being used to produce mAbs with improved efficacy. In this work, a glycoengineered version of rituximab was produced by chemoenzymatic modification to generate human-like N-glycosylation with α 2,6 linked sialic acid. This modified rituximab was comprehensively characterized by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and compared to commercially available rituximab.

Rapid Preparation of Released N-Glycans for HILIC Analysis Using a Labeling Reagent that Facilitates Sensitive Fluorescence and ESI-MS Detection.

N-glycosylation of proteins is now routinely characterized and monitored because of its significance to the detection of disease states and the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. At the same time, hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) has emerged as a powerful technology for N-glycan profiling. Sample preparation techniques for N-glycan HILIC analyses have however tended to be laborious or require compromises in sensitivity.

Identification and characterization of protein glycosylation using specific endo- and exoglycosidases.

Glycosylation, the addition of covalently linked sugars, is a major post-translational modification of proteins that can significantly affect processes such as cell adhesion, molecular trafficking, clearance, and signal transduction. In eukaryotes, the most common glycosylation modifications in the secretory pathway are additions at consensus asparagine residues (N-linked); or at serine or threonine residues (O-linked) (Figure 1). Initiation of N-glycan synthesis is highly conserved in eukaryotes, while the end products can vary greatly among different species, tissues, or proteins.

Identification and characterization of protein glycosylation using specific endo- and exoglycosidases.

Enzymatic deglycosylation followed by SDS-PAGE is a valuable method to detect glycan modifications on protein samples. Specific glycosidases were used to remove sugars from glycoproteins in a controlled fashion leaving the protein core intact; the resulting change in molecular weight could be detected as shifts in gel mobility. Alternatively, glycan-sensitive reagents were used to visualize the intensity of glycoprotein bands before and after enzyme treatment.

Coordination sphere of the third metal site is essential to the activity and metal selectivity of alkaline phosphatases.

Alkaline phosphatases (APs) are commercially applied enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of phosphate monoesters by a reaction involving three active site metal ions. We have previously identified H135 as the key residue for controlling activity of the psychrophilic TAB5 AP (TAP). In this article, we describe three X-ray crystallographic structures on TAP variants H135E and H135D in complex with a variety of metal ions.

Novel endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidases with broader substrate specificity.

In an effort to identify novel endo-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidases (endo-alpha-GalNAcases), four potential genes were cloned. Three of the expressed proteins EngEF from Enterococcus faecalis, EngPA from Propionibacterium acnes, and EngCP from Clostridium perfringens were purified and characterized. Their substrate specificity was investigated and compared to the commercially available endo-alpha-GalNAcases from Streptococcus pneumoniae (EngSP) and Alcaligenes sp.

A response-regulator-like activator of antibiotic synthesis from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) with an amino-terminal domain that lacks a phosphorylation pocket.

In Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), bldA mutants that lack the tRNA for the rare leucine codon UUA fail to make the red undecylprodigiosin antibiotic complex. To find out why, red-pigmented while bald (Pwb) derivatives of a bldA mutant were isolated. Using a cloning strategy that allowed for (and demonstrated) dominance of the mutations, they were localized to the red gene cluster.