Glycomic analyses of mouse models of congenital muscular dystrophy

J Biol Chem. 2011 Jun 17;286(24):21180-90. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M110.203281. Epub 2011 Apr 1.

Abstract

Dystroglycanopathies are a subset of congenital muscular dystrophies wherein α-dystroglycan (α-DG) is hypoglycosylated. α-DG is an extensively O-glycosylated extracellular matrix-binding protein and a key component of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex. Previous studies have shown α-DG to be post-translationally modified by both O-GalNAc- and O-mannose-initiated glycan structures. Mutations in defined or putative glycosyltransferase genes involved in O-mannosylation are associated with a loss of ligand-binding activity of α-DG and are causal for various forms of congenital muscular dystrophy. In this study, we sought to perform glycomic analysis on brain O-linked glycan structures released from proteins of three different knock-out mouse models associated with O-mannosylation (POMGnT1, LARGE (Myd), and DAG1(-/-)). Using mass spectrometry approaches, we were able to identify nine O-mannose-initiated and 25 O-GalNAc-initiated glycan structures in wild-type littermate control mouse brains. Through our analysis, we were able to confirm that POMGnT1 is essential for the extension of all observed O-mannose glycan structures with β1,2-linked GlcNAc. Loss of LARGE expression in the Myd mouse had no observable effect on the O-mannose-initiated glycan structures characterized here. Interestingly, we also determined that similar amounts of O-mannose-initiated glycan structures are present on brain proteins from α-DG-lacking mice (DAG1) compared with wild-type mice, indicating that there must be additional proteins that are O-mannosylated in the mammalian brain. Our findings illustrate that classical β1,2-elongation and β1,6-GlcNAc branching of O-mannose glycan structures are dependent upon the POMGnT1 enzyme and that O-mannosylation is not limited solely to α-DG in the brain.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Carbohydrates / chemistry
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Dystroglycans / chemistry
  • Galactosyltransferases / chemistry
  • Glycomics / methods*
  • Glycosylation
  • Mannose / chemistry
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Muscular Dystrophies / congenital
  • Muscular Dystrophies / metabolism*
  • Mutation
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / genetics*
  • Polysaccharides / chemistry

Substances

  • Carbohydrates
  • Polysaccharides
  • Dystroglycans
  • Galactosyltransferases
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases
  • protein O-mannose beta-1,2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase
  • Mannose