Exo-Enzymatic Addition of Diazirine-Modified Sialic Acid to Cell Surfaces Enables Photocrosslinking of Glycoproteins

Bioconjug Chem. 2022 May 18;33(5):781-787. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.2c00037. Epub 2022 Apr 19.

Abstract

Glycan binding often mediates extracellular macromolecular recognition events. Accurate characterization of these binding interactions can be difficult because of dissociation and scrambling that occur during purification and analysis steps. Use of photocrosslinking methods has been pursued to covalently capture glycan-dependent interactions in situ; however, use of metabolic glycan engineering methods to incorporate photocrosslinking sugar analogs is limited to certain cell types. Here, we report an exo-enzymatic labeling method to add a diazirine-modified sialic acid (SiaDAz) to cell surface glycoconjugates. The method involves the chemoenzymatic synthesis of diazirine-modified CMP-sialic acid (CMP-SiaDAz), followed by sialyltransferase-catalyzed addition of SiaDAz to desialylated cell surfaces. Cell surface SiaDAzylation is compatible with multiple cell types and is facilitated by endogenous extracellular sialyltransferase activity present in Daudi B cells. This method for extracellular addition of α2-6-linked SiaDAz enables UV-induced crosslinking of CD22, demonstrating the utility for covalent capture of glycan-mediated binding interactions.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Diazomethane* / chemistry
  • Glycoproteins / chemistry
  • N-Acetylneuraminic Acid* / chemistry
  • Polysaccharides / chemistry
  • Sialic Acids / chemistry
  • Sialyltransferases / chemistry

Substances

  • Glycoproteins
  • Polysaccharides
  • Sialic Acids
  • Diazomethane
  • Sialyltransferases
  • N-Acetylneuraminic Acid