Diagnostic methods for parasite infections still highly depend on the identification of the parasites by direct methods such as microscopic examination of blood, stool and tissue biopsies. Serodiagnosis is often carried out to complement the direct methods, however few synthetic antigens with sufficient sensitivity and specificity are available. Here we evaluated a glycan microarray approach to select for synthetic glycan antigens that could be used for serodiagnosis of parasitic infections. Using a glycan array containing over 250 different glycan antigens, we identified GalNAcβ1-4(Fucα1-3)GlcNAc-R (LDNF) as a glycan antigen that is recognized by antibodies from Trichinella-infected individuals. We synthesized a neoglycoconjugate, consisting of 5 LDNF molecules covalently coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA), and used this neoglycoconjugate as an antigen to develop a highly sensitive total-Ig ELISA for serological screening of trichinellosis. The results indicate that glycan microarrays constitute a promising technology for fast and specific identification of parasite glycan antigens to improve serodiagnosis of different parasitic infections, either using an ELISA format, or parasite-specific glycan-arrays.

Hemolytic transfusion reactions represent one of the most common causes of transfusion-related mortality. Although many factors influence hemolytic transfusion reactions, complement activation represents one of the most common features associated with fatality. In this paper we will focus on the role of complement in initiating and regulating hemolytic transfusion reactions and will discuss potential strategies aimed at mitigating or favorably modulating complement during incompatible red blood cell transfusions.

Major challenges of glycomics are to characterize a glycome and identify functional glycans as ligands for glycan-binding proteins (GBPs). To address these issues we have developed a general strategy termed shotgun glycomics. We focus on glycosphingolipids (GSLs), a challenging class of glycoconjugates recognized by toxins, antibodies, and GBPs. We derivatized GSLs extracted from cells with a heterobifunctional fluorescent tag suitable for covalent immobilization. Fluorescent GSLs were separated by multidimensional chromatography, quantified, and coupled to glass slides to create GSL shotgun microarrays. The microarrays were interrogated with cholera toxin, antibodies, and sera from patients with Lyme disease to identify biologically relevant GSLs that were subsequently characterized by mass spectrometry. Shotgun glycomics incorporating GSLs and potentially glycoprotein-derived glycans provides an approach to accessing the complex glycomes of animal cells and offers a strategy for focusing structural analyses on functionally significant glycans.

To examine the range of selective processes that potentially operate when poorly binding influenza viruses adapt to replicate more efficiently in alternative environments, we passaged a virus containing an attenuating mutation in the hemagglutinin (HA) receptor binding site in mice and characterized the resulting mutants with respect to the structural locations of mutations selected, the replication phenotypes of the viruses, and their binding properties on glycan microarrays. The initial attenuated virus had a tyrosine-to-phenylalanine mutation at HA1 position 98 (Y98F), located in the receptor binding pocket, but viruses that were selected contained second-site pseudoreversion mutations in various structural locations that revealed a range of molecular mechanisms for modulating receptor binding that go beyond the scope that is generally mapped using receptor specificity mutants. A comparison of virus titers in the mouse respiratory tract versus MDCK cells in culture showed that the mutants displayed distinctive replication properties depending on the system, but all were less attenuated in mice than the Y98F virus. An analysis of receptor binding properties confirmed that the initial Y98F virus bound poorly to several different species of erythrocytes, while all mutants reacquired various degrees of hemagglutination activity. Interestingly, both the Y98F virus and pseudoreversion mutants were shown to bind very inefficiently to standard glycan microarrays containing an abundance of binding substrates for most influenza viruses that have been characterized to date, provided by the Consortium for Functional Glycomics. The viruses were also examined on a recently developed microarray containing glycans terminating in sialic acid derivatives, and limited binding to a potentially interesting subset of glycans was revealed. The results are discussed with respect to mechanisms for HA-mediated receptor binding, as well as regarding the species of molecules that may act as receptors for influenza virus on host cell surfaces.

Glycan microarray technology has become a successful tool for studying protein-carbohydrate interactions, but a limitation has been the laborious synthesis of glycan structures by enzymatic and chemical methods. Here we describe a new method to generate quantifiable glycan libraries from natural sources by combining widely used protease digestion of glycoproteins and Fmoc chemistry. Glycoproteins including chicken ovalbumin, bovine fetuin, and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were digested by pronase, protected by FmocCl, and efficiently separated by 2D-HPLC. We show that glycans from HRP glycopeptides separated by HPLC and fluorescence monitoring retained their natural reducing end structures, mostly core α1,3-fucose and core α1,2-xylose. After simple Fmoc-deprotection, the glycans were printed on NHS-activated glass slides. The glycans were interrogated using plant lectins and antibodies in sera from mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni, which revealed the presence of both IgM and IgG antibody responses to HRP-glycopeptides. This simple approach to glycopeptide purification and conjugation allows for the development of natural glycopeptide microarrays without the need to remove and derivatize glycans and potentially compromise their reducing end determinants.

A novel strategy for creating naturally-derived glycan microarrays has been developed. Glycosylamines are prepared from free reducing glycans and stabilized by reaction with acryloyl chloride to generate a glycosylamide in which the reducing monosaccharide has a closed ring structure. Ozonolysis of the protected glycan yields an active aldehyde, to which a bifunctional fluorescent linker is coupled by reductive amination. The fluorescent derivatives are easily coupled through a residual primary alkylamine to generate glycan microarrays. This strategy preserves structural features of glycans required for antibody recognition, and allows development of natural arrays of fluorescent glycans in which the cyclic pyranose structure of the reducing-end sugar residue is retained.

Nature possesses an unlimited number and source of biologically-relevant natural glycans, many of which are too complicated to synthesize in the laboratory. To capitalize on the naturally-occurring plethora of glycans, we have developed a method to fluorescently tag the isolated free glycans, which maintains the closed-ring structure. After purification of the labeled glycans, they can be printed on a glass surface to create a natural glycan microarray, available for interrogation with potential glycan-binding proteins. The derivatization of these natural glycans has vastly expanded the number of glycans for functional studies.

Loss of T-synthase (uridine diphosphate galactose:N-acetylgalactosaminyl-α1-Ser/Thr β3galactosyltransferase), a key enzyme required for the formation of mucin-type core 1 O-glycans, is observed in several human diseases, including cancer, Tn syndrome and IgA nephropathy, but current methods to assay the enzyme use radioactive substrates and complicated isolation of the product. Here we report the development of a novel fluorescent assay to measure its activity in a variety of tumor cell lines. Deficiencies in T-synthase activity correlate with mutations in the gene encoding the molecular chaperone Cosmc that is required for folding the T-synthase. This new high-throughput assay allows for facile screening of tumor specimens and other biological material for T-synthase activity and could be used diagnostically.

Summary

Galectin-1 (Gal-1) and galectin-3 (Gal-3) are widely expressed galectins with immunoregulatory functions in animals. To explore their glycan specificity, we developed microarrays of naturally occurring glycans using a novel bifunctional fluorescent linker, 2-amino-N-(2-aminoethyl)-benzamide (AEAB), directly conjugated through its arylamine group by reductive amination to free glycans to form glycan-AEABs (GAEABs). Glycans from natural sources were used to prepare over 200 GAEABs, which were purified by multidimensional HPLC and covalently immobilized onto NHS-activated glass slides via their free alkylamine. Fluorescence-based screening demonstrated that Gal-1 recognizes a wide variety of complex N-glycans, whereas Gal-3 primarily recognizes poly-N-acetyllactosamine-containing glycans independent of N-glycan presentation. GAEABs provide a general solution to glycan microarray preparation from natural sources for defining the specificity of glycan-binding proteins.

Regulatory pathways for protein glycosylation are poorly understood, but expression of branchpoint enzymes is critical. A key branchpoint enzyme is the T-synthase, which directs synthesis of the common core 1 O-glycan structure (T-antigen), the precursor structure for most mucin-type O-glycans in a wide variety of glycoproteins. Formation of active T-synthase, which resides in the Golgi apparatus, requires a unique molecular chaperone, Cosmc, encoded on Xq24. Cosmc is the only molecular chaperone known to be lost through somatic acquired mutations in cells. We show that Cosmc is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–localized adenosine triphosphate binding chaperone that binds directly to human T-synthase. Cosmc prevents the aggregation and ubiquitin-mediated degradation of the T-synthase. These results demonstrate that Cosmc is a molecular chaperone in the ER required for this branchpoint glycosyltransferase function and show that expression of the disease-related Tn antigen can result from deregulation or loss of Cosmc function.

Incomplete or aberrant glycosylation leading to Tn antigen (GalNAcα1-Ser/Thr) expression on human glycoproteins is strongly associated with human pathological conditions, including tumors, certain autoimmune diseases, such as the idiopathic IgA nephropathy, and may modulate immune homeostasis. In addition, the Tn antigen is highly expressed by certain pathogens and plays a role in host–pathogen interactions. To enable experimental approaches to study interactions of the Tn antigen with the immune system and analyse anti-Tn antibody responses in infection or disorders, we generated a Tn-expressing resource that can be used for high-throughput screening. In consideration of IgA nephropathy in which the hinge region is incompletely glycosylated, we used this hinge sequence that encodes five potential glycosylation sites as the ideal template for the synthesis of a Tn antigen expressing glycopeptide. Inclusion of an N-terminal biotin in the peptide enabled binding to streptavidin-coated ELISA plates as monitored using Helix pomatia agglutinin or anti-Tn monoclonal antibody. We also found that the biotinylated IgA-Tn peptide is a functional acceptor for β1-3-galactosylation using recombinant T-synthase (β1-3-galactosyltransferase). Besides its immunochemical functionality as a possible diagnostic tool for IgA nephropathy, the peptide is an excellent substrate for glycan elongation and represents a novel template applicable for glycan–antigen-associated diseases.

Endoglycan is a mucin-like glycoprotein expressed by endothelial cells and some leukocytes and is recognized by L-selectin, a C-type lectin important in leukocyte trafficking and extravasation during inflammation. Here, we show that recombinant L-selectin and human T lymphocytes expressing L-selectin bind to synthetic glycosulfopeptides (GSPs). These synthetic glycosulfopeptides contain 37 amino acid residues modeled after the N-terminus of human endoglycan and contain one or two tyrosine sulfates (TyrSO3) along with a nearby core-2-based Thr-linked O-glycan with sialyl Lewis x (C2-SLex). TyrSO3 at position Y118 was more critical for binding than at Y97. C2-SLex at T124 was required for L-selectin recognition. Interestingly, under similar conditions, neither L-selectin nor T lymphocytes showed appreciable binding to the sulfated carbohydrate epitope 6-sulfo-SLex. P-selectin also bound to endoglycan-based GSPs but with lower affinity than toward GSPs modeled after PSGL-1, the physiological ligand for P- and L-selectin that is expressed on leukocytes. These results demonstrate that TyrSO3 residues in association with a C2-SLex moiety within endoglycan and PSGL-1 are preferentially recognized by L-selectin.

Selectins (L, E- and P) are vascular endothelial molecules that play an important role in the recruitment of leukocytes to inflamed tissue. In this regard, P-Selectin glycoprotein-1 (PSGL-1) has been identified as a ligand for P-Selectin. PSGL-1 binds to P-Selectin through the interaction of core-2 O-glycan expressing sialyl Lewisx oligosaccharide and the three tyrosine sulfate residues. Herein, we report the synthesis of threonine-linked core-2 O-glycan as an amino acid building block for the synthesis of PSGL-1. This building block was further incoporated in the Fmoc-assisted solid-phase peptide synthesis to provide a portion of the PSGL-1 glycopeptide.

We report herein a new and enabling approach for decorating both living and abiotic surfaces with the extracellular matrix IKVAV peptide in a site-specific manner using strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition. A cyclooctyne derivatized IKVAV peptide was synthesized and immobilized on the surface of pancreatic islets through strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition with cell surface azides generated by electrostatic adsorption of cytocompatible poly(L-lysine)-graft-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLL-g-PEG) copolymer bearing azido groups (PP-N3). Both “one-pot” and sequential addition of PP-N3 and a cyclooctyne derivatized IKVAV peptide conjugate enabled efficient modification of pancreatic islet surface in less than 60 min. The ability to bind peptides at controlled surface densities was demonstrated in a quantitative manner using microarrays. Additionally, the technique is remarkably rapid and highly efficient, opening new avenues for molecular engineering of cellular interfaces and protein and peptide microarrays.

Galectin-1 (Gal-1) is important in immune function and muscle regeneration, but its expression and localization in adult tissues and primary leukocytes remain unclear. To address this, we generated a specific monoclonal antibody against Gal-1, termed αhGal-1, and defined a sequential peptide epitope that it recognizes, which is preserved in human and porcine Gal-1, but not in murine Gal-1. Using αhGal-1, we found that Gal-1 is expressed in a wide range of porcine tissues, including striated muscle, liver, lung, brain, kidney, spleen, and intestine. In most types of cells, Gal-1 exhibits diffuse cytosolic expression, but in cells within the splenic red pulp, Gal-1 showed both cytosolic and nuclear localization. Gal-1 was also expressed in arterial walls and exhibited prominent cytosolic and nuclear staining in cultured human endothelial cells. However, human peripheral leukocytes and promyelocytic HL60 cells lack detectable Gal-1 and also showed very low levels of Gal-1 mRNA. In striking contrast, Gal-1 exhibited an organized cytosolic staining pattern within striated muscle tissue of cardiac and skeletal muscle and colocalized with sarcomeric actin on I bands. These results provide insights into previously defined roles for Gal-1 in inflammation, immune regulation and muscle biology.

In this note, we demonstrate the utility of bifunctional fluorescent linkers to facilitate the construction of peptide microarrays with either an N or C-terminal alkylamine for directionally preferred peptide immobilization. Significantly, these small tags facilitate HPLC profiling, while limiting interference with antigen-antibody interactions after peptide immobilization. In a model peptide-antibody binding assay, a sequence-dependent orientation effect of antibody binding to a series of peptide ligands was demonstrated. This approach provides a strategy that can be applied to a variety of peptide-microarray based detection systems.

Lambs vaccinated with Haemonchus contortus excretory/secretory (ES) glycoproteins in combination with the adjuvant Alhydrogel are protected against H. contortus challenge infection. Using glycan microarray analysis we showed that serum from such vaccinated lambs contains IgG antibodies that recognize the glycan antigen Galα1-3GalNAc-R and GalNAcβ1-4(Fucα1-3)GlcNAc-R. Our studies revealed that H. contortus glycoproteins contain Galα1-3Gal-R as well as significant levels of Galα1-3GalNAc-R, which has not been previously reported. Extracts from H. contortus adult worms contain a galactosyltransferase acting on glycan substrates with a terminal GalNAc, indicating that the worms possess the enzymatic potential to synthesize terminal Gal-GalNAc moieties. These data illustrate that glycan microarrays constitute a promising technology for fast and specific analysis of serum anti-glycan antibodies in vaccination studies. In addition, this approach facilitates the discovery of novel, antigenic parasite glycan antigens that may have potential for developing glycoconjugate vaccines or utilization in diagnostics.

The expression of ABO(H) blood group antigens causes deletion of cells that generate self anti-blood group antibodies, but this deletion limits adaptive immunity toward pathogens bearing cognate blood group antigens. To explore potential defense mechanisms against these pathogens, given such limitations in adaptive immunity, we screened for innate proteins that could recognize human blood group antigens. Here we report that two innate immune lectins, galectins-4 and -8, which are expressed in the intestinal tract, recognize and kill human blood group antigen-expressing E. coli, while failing to alter viability of other E. coli strains or other gram-negative or gram-positive organisms both in vitro and in vivo. Killing by both galectins-4 and -8 resides within their C-terminal domains, occurs rapidly and independently of complement, and is accompanied by disruption of membrane integrity. These results demonstrate that innate defense lectins can provide immunity against pathogens that display blood group self-antigens on their surface.

The glycan symbol nomenclature proposed by Harvey et al. in these pages has relative advantages and disadvantages. The use of symbols to depict glycans originated from Kornfeld in 1978, was systematized in the First Edition of “Essentials of Glycobiology” and updated for the second edition, with input from relevant organizations such as the Consortium for Functional Glycomics. We also note that >200 illustrations in the second edition have already been published using our nomenclature and are available for download at PubMed.

Background

Specificities for carbohydrate IgG antibodies, thought to be predominantly of the IgG2 subclass, have never been broadly examined in healthy human subjects.

Objective

To examine commercial intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) preparations for their ability to recognize a wide range of glycans and to determine the contribution of IgG2 to the binding pattern observed.

Methods

We employed a glycan microarray to evaluate IVIg preparations and a control mix of similar proportions of human myeloma IgG1 and IgG2 for binding to 377 glycans courtesy of the Consortium for Functional Glycomics Core H (http://www.functionalglycomics.org/static/consortium/resources/resourcecoreh8.shtml). Glycans recognized were categorized using public databases for their likely cellular sources. IgG2 was depleted from IVIg using immunoaffinity chromatography and depletion confirmed using nephelometry and surface plasmon resonance.

Results

Nearly half of the glycans bound IgG. Some of the glycans with the greatest antibody binding can be found in structures of human pathogenic bacteria (e.g., Streptococcus pneumoniae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Vibrio cholera) and non-pathogenic bacteria, including lipopolysaccharide and lipoteichoic acid, capsular polysaccharides and exopolysaccharides. Surprisingly, depletion of IgG2 had only a modest effect on anti-carbohydrate recognition patterns compared to the starting IVIg preparation. Little to no binding activity was detected to human endogenous glycans including tumor-associated antigens.

Conclusions

This novel, comprehensive analysis provides evidence that IVIg contains a much wider range than previously appreciated of anti-carbohydrate IgG antibodies, including those recognizing both pathogenic and non-pathogen-associated prokaryotic glycans.

Many diseases and disorders are characterized by quantitative and/or qualitative changes in complex carbohydrates. Mass spectrometry methods show promise in monitoring and detecting these important biological changes. Here we report a new glycomics method, termed Glycan Reductive Isotope Labeling (GRIL), where free glycans are derivatized by reductive amination with the differentially coded stable isotope tags [12C6]-aniline and [13C6]-aniline. These dual-labeled aniline-tagged glycans can be recovered by reversed-phase chromatography and quantified based on UV-absorbance and relative ion abundances. Unlike previously reported isotopically coded reagents for glycans, GRIL does not contain deuterium, which can be chromatographically resolved. Our method shows no chromatographic resolution of differentially labeled glycans. Mixtures of differentially tagged glycans can be directly compared and quantified using mass spectrometric techniques. We demonstrate the use of GRIL to determine relative differences in glycan amount and composition. We analyze free glycans and glycans enzymatically or chemically released from a variety of standard glycoproteins, as well as human and mouse serum glycoproteins using this method. This technique allows for linear, relative quantitation of glycans over a 10-fold concentration range and can accurately quantify sub-picomole levels of released glycans, providing a needed advancement in the field of Glycomics.

Mucin-type protein O-glycosylation is initiated by the addition of α-GalNAc to Ser/Thr residues of a polypeptide chain. The addition of β-Gal to GalNAc by the UDP-Gal:glycoprotein-α-GalNAc β3 galactosyltransferase (T-synthase), forming the Core 1 structure (β-Gal(1-3)-α-GalNAc-O-Ser/Thr), is a common and biologically significant subsequent step in O-glycan biosynthesis. What dictates the sites of Core 1 glycosylation is poorly understood; however, the peptide sequence and neighboring glycosylation effects have been implicated. To systematically address the role of the peptide sequence on the specificity of T-synthase, we used the oriented random glycopeptide: GAGAXXXX(T-O-GalNAc)XXXXAGAG (where X = G, A, P, V, I, F, Y, S, N, D, E, H, R, and K) as a substrate. The Core 1 glycosylated product was isolated on immobilized PNA (Arachis hypogaea) lectin and its composition determined by Edman amino acid sequencing for comparison with the initial substrate composition, from which transferase preferences were obtained. From these studies, elevated preferences for Gly at the +1 position with moderately high preferences for Phe and Tyr in the +3 position relative to the acceptor Thr-O-GalNAc were found. A number of smaller Pro enhancements were also observed. Basic residues, i.e., Lys, Arg, and His, in any position were disfavored, suggesting electrostatic interactions as an additional important component modulating transferase specificity. This work suggests that there are indeed subtle specific and nonspecific protein-targeting sequence motifs for this transferase.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in humans and play a vital role in several aspects of the immune response. Numerous reports have implicated neutrophil glycosylation as an important factor in mediating these interactions. We report here the application of high sensitivity glycomics methodologies, including matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI-TOF) and MALDI-TOF/TOF analyses, to the structural analysis of N- and O-linked carbohydrates released from two samples of neutrophils, prepared by two separate and geographically remote laboratories. The data produced demonstrates that the cells display a diverse range of sialylated and fucosylated complex glycans, with a high level of similarity between the two preparations.

Dimeric galectin-1 (dGal-1) is a homodimeric lectin with multiple proposed functions. Although dGal-1 binds to diverse glycans, it is unclear whether dGal-1 preferentially binds to specific subsets of glycans on cell surfaces to transmit signals. To explore this question, we selectively inhibited major glycan biosynthetic pathways in human HL60, Molt-4, and Jurkat cells. Inhibition of N-glycan processing blocked surface binding of dGal-1 and prevented dGal-1-induced Ca2+ mobilization and phosphatidylserine exposure. By contrast, inhibition of O-glycan or glycosphingolipid biosynthesis did not affect dGal-1 binding or dGal-1-induced Ca2+ mobilization and phosphatidylserine exposure. These results demonstrate that dGal-1 preferentially binds to and signals through glycoproteins containing complex-type N-glycans in at least some leukocyte subsets.