Unexpected structure of a C. difficile toxin A ligand necessitates an annotation correction in a popular screening library

Chem Commun (Camb). 2011 Dec 7;47(45):12397-9. doi: 10.1039/c1cc15344g. Epub 2011 Oct 21.

Abstract

The structure of the pentasaccharide S259-1 in the Consortium for Functional Glycomics was investigated using a variety of techniques. Surprisingly, the structure differs from the structure assumed from the previously established specificity of the human fucosyltransferase FUT-III used in the last step of chemoenzymatic synthesis. When presented with a tetrasaccharide substrate containing both type I and type II disaccharide moieties, the enzyme generates a pentasaccharide in which the type II moiety is preferentially fucosylated. The unexpected product generated by FUT-III in this case highlights the importance of performing detailed structural analysis on products generated by enzymes.

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Toxins / chemistry*
  • Clostridioides difficile / metabolism*
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Enterotoxins / chemistry*
  • Fucosyltransferases / genetics
  • Fucosyltransferases / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Oligosaccharides / biosynthesis*
  • Oligosaccharides / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Bacterial Toxins
  • Enterotoxins
  • Ligands
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • S259-1
  • tcdA protein, Clostridium difficile
  • Fucosyltransferases
  • 3-galactosyl-N-acetylglucosaminide 4-alpha-L-fucosyltransferase