The Fc portion of immunoglobulin G (IgG) promotes defensive effector functions in the immune system by interacting with Fcγ receptors and complement component C1q. These interactions critically depend on N-glycosylation at Asn297 of each CH2 domain, where biantennary complex-type oligosaccharides contain microheterogeneities resulting primarily from the presence or absence of non-reducing terminal galactose residues. Crystal structures of Fc have shown that a pair of N-glycans is located between the two CH2 domains. Here we applied our metabolic isotope labeling technique using mammalian cells for in-solution structural characterization of mouse IgG2b-Fc glycoforms with a molecular mass of 54 kDa. Based on spectral assignments of the N-glycans as well as polypeptide backbones of Fc, we probed conformational perturbations of Fc induced by N-glycan trimming, especially enzymatic degalactosylation. The results indicated that degalactosylation structurally perturbed the Fc region through rearrangement of glycan-protein interactions. The spectral assignments of IgG2b-Fc glycoprotein will provide the basis for NMR investigation of its dynamic conformations and interactions with effector molecules in solution.
Keywords: Fc; Galactosylation; Glycoprotein; Immunoglobulin G; NMR spectroscopy; Resonance assignment.