Synthesis of complex carbohydrates and glyconjugates: enzymatic synthesis of globotetraose using alpha-1,3-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase LgtD from Haemophilus infuenzae strain Rd

Methods Mol Biol. 2005:310:93-105. doi: 10.1007/978-1-59259-948-6_6.

Abstract

The lipopolysaccharide of capsule-deficient Haemophilus infuenzae strain Rd contains an N-acetylgalactosamine residue attached to the terminal globotriose moiety in the Hex5 glycoform. Genome analysis identified an open reading frame, HI1578, referred to as LgtD, whose amino acid sequence shows a significant level of similarity to those of a number of bacterial glycosyltransferases involved in lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. To investigate its function, overexpression and biochemical characterization were performed. Most of the protein was obtained in a highly soluble and active form. Standard glycosyltransferase assay, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and liquid chromatography (LC)/mass spectrometry (MS) show that LgtD is an N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase with high donor substrate specificity, and globotriose is a highly preferred acceptor substrate for the enzyme.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Globosides / chemical synthesis*
  • Haemophilus influenzae / enzymology*
  • Haemophilus influenzae / genetics
  • Humans
  • Lipopolysaccharides / chemistry
  • Lipopolysaccharides / metabolism
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Molecular Structure
  • N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases / genetics
  • N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases / metabolism*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Globosides
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • globotetraose
  • N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases