Assay and heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris of plant cell wall type-II membrane anchored glycosyltransferases

Two Arabidopsis xylosyltransferases, designated RGXT1 and RGXT2, were recently expressed in Baculovirus transfected insect cells and by use of the free sugar assay shown to catalyse transfer of D-xylose from UDP-α-D-xylose to L-fucose and derivatives hereof. We have now examined expression of RGXT1 and RGXT2 in Pichia pastoris and compared the two expression systems. Pichia transformants, expressing soluble, secreted forms of RGXT1 and RGXT2 with an N- or C-terminal Flag-tag, accumulated recombinant, hyper-glycosylated proteins at levels between 6 and 16 mg protein • L-1 in the media fractions. When incubated with 0.5 M L-fucose and UDP-D-xylose all four RGXT1 and RGXT2 variants catalyzed transfer of D-xylose onto L-fucose with estimated turnover numbers between 0.15 and 0.3 sec-1, thus demonstrating that a free C-terminus is not required for activity. N- and O-glycanase treatment resulted in deglycosylation of all four proteins, and this caused a loss of xylosyltransferase activity for the C-terminally but not the N-terminally Flag-tagged proteins. The RGXT1 and RGXT2 proteins displayed an absolute requirement for Mn2+ and were active over a broad pH range. Simple dialysis of media fractions or purification on phenyl Sepharose columns increased enzyme activities 2-8 fold enabling direct verification of the product formed in crude assay mixtures using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Pichia expressed and dialysed RGXT variants yielded activities within the range 0.011 to 0.013 U (1 U = 1 nmol conversion of substrate • min-1 • µl medium-1) similar to those of RGXT1 and RGXT2 expressed in Baculovirus transfected insect Sf9 cells. In summary, the data presented suggest that Pichia is an attractive host candidate for expression of plant glycosyltransferases

Ligand-bound Structures and Site-directed Mutagenesis Identify the Acceptor and Secondary Binding Sites of Streptomyces coelicolor Maltosyltransferase GlgE

GlgE is a maltosyltransferase involved in -glucan biosynthesis in bacteria that has been genetically validated as a target for tuberculosis therapies. Crystals of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis enzyme diffract at low resolution so most structural studies have been with the very similar Streptomyces coelicolor GlgE isoform 1. Although the donor binding site for -maltose 1-phosphate had been previously structurally defined, the acceptor site had not. Using mutagenesis, kinetics, and protein crystallography of the S. coelicolor enzyme, we have now identified the +1 to +6 subsites of the acceptor/product, which overlap with the known cyclodextrin binding site. The sugar residues in the acceptor subsites +1 to +5 are oriented such that they disfavor the binding of malto-oligosaccharides that bear branches at their 6-positions, consistent with the known acceptor chain specificity of GlgE. A secondary binding site remote from the catalytic center was identified that is distinct from one reported for the M. tuberculosis enzyme. This new site is capable of binding a branched -glucan and is most likely involved in guiding acceptors toward the donor site because its disruption kinetically compromises the ability of GlgE to extend polymeric substrates. However, disruption of this site, which is conserved in the Streptomyces venezuelae GlgE enzyme, did not affect the growth of S. venezuelae or the structure of the polymeric product. The acceptor subsites +1 to +4 in the S. coelicolor enzyme are well conserved in the M. tuberculosis enzyme so their identification could help inform the design of inhibitors with therapeutic potential

Rational Design of a New Trypanosoma rangeli Trans-Sialidase for Efficient Sialylation of Glycans

This paper reports rational engineering of Trypanosoma rangeli sialidase to develop an effective enzyme for a potentially important type of reactivity: production of sialylated prebiotic glycans. The Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidase and the homologous T. rangeli sialidase has previously been used to investigate the structural requirements for trans-sialidase activity. We observed that the T. cruzi trans-sialidase has a seven-amino-acid motif (197-203) at the border of the substrate binding cleft. The motif differs substantially in chemical properties and substitution probability from the homologous sialidase, and we hypothesised that this motif is important for trans-sialidase activity. The 197-203 motif is strongly positively charged with a marked change in hydrogen bond donor capacity as compared to the sialidase. To investigate the role of this motif, we expressed and characterised a T. rangeli sialidase mutant, Tr13. Conditions for efficient trans-sialylation were determined, and Tr13's acceptor specificity demonstrated promiscuity with respect to the acceptor molecule enabling sialylation of glycans containing terminal galactose and glucose and even monomers of glucose and fucose. Sialic acid is important in association with human milk oligosaccharides, and Tr13 was shown to sialylate a number of established and potential prebiotics. Initial evaluation of prebiotic potential using pure cultures demonstrated, albeit not selectively, growth of Bifidobacteria. Since the 197-203 motif stands out in the native trans-sialidase, is markedly different from the wild-type sialidase compared to previous mutants, and is shown here to confer efficient and broad trans-sialidase activity, we suggest that this motif can serve as a framework for future optimization of trans-sialylation towards prebiotic production

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of branched oligo- and polysaccharides as potential substrates for starch active enzymes

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