Cheryl L.M. Stults

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based quantification and identification of in vitro enzyme-catalyzed glycosphingolipid synthesis and degradation products with carbohydrate sequence-specific monoclonal antibodies☆

A new method has been developed to monitor glycosyltransferase and glycosylhydrolase activities. Reaction product identification and quantification are accomplished simultaneously with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using carbohydrate sequence-specific monoclonal antibodies. beta-Galactosyltransferase and alpha-galactosidase reactions were used to illustrate the salient features of the method. These include simple product identification and quantification, no detergent requirement, consumption of small amounts of reagents, and no use of radioisotopes. Furthermore, it is possible to measure substrate disappearance or product formation with this method. Enzyme characteristics such as Km, Vmax, divalent cation requirement, and pH optimum were investigated with this new method.

Measurement of β-galactosyltransferase activity in cell extracts with an ELISA-based assay☆

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based glycosyltransferase assay has been used to measure UDP-Gal:N-acetylglucosamine beta-1,4-galactosyl-transferase (EC 2.4.1.38) activity in detergent extracts of chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. LEC11 cells (a mutant of the CHO cell line, Pro -5), which are known to express a complex array of carbohydrate structures, were used to develop the assay for use with whole cell extracts. A detergent-solubilized preparation of the enzyme from whole cells was used to convert the substrate, lactotriglycosylceramide, to the product, neolactotetraglycosylceramide. The monoclonal antibody, 1B2, which specifically binds to the Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc epitope, was used in an ELISA to identify and quantify the product. The enzyme activity in the preparations was found to be similar to that obtained by conventional radioactive assay methods. The beta-galactosyltransferase found in LEC11 cell detergent extracts exhibited an absolute requirement for the nucleotide sugar and MnCl2. The activity of the enzyme was also strictly dependent on the presence of exogenous glycolipid acceptor. When Triton X-114 was used to solubilize the LEC11 beta-galactosyltransferase, activity was found in both the hydrophilic and the hydrophobic phases, suggesting the presence of two forms of the enzyme. The ELISA-based assay was used to compare beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase activity in detergent extracts of four CHO cell lines: Pro-5, Lec1, LEC11, and LEC12 and in detergent-solubilized microsomes from human leukemia cells. The results from this study demonstrate the utility of the ELISA-based assay for measuring glycosyltransferase activity in detergent-solubilized whole cells and microsome preparations.

α1,4Galactosyltransferase activity and Gb3Cer expression in human leukaemia/lymphoma cell lines

We have used two methods to evaluate the level of expression of Gb3Cer in several human leukaemia/lymphoma cell lines representative of the myeloid (K562, KG-1, HL-60, and THP-1) and lymphoid (Reh, Daudi, Raji, RPMI 8226, CCRF-CEM, MOLT-4) lineages blocked at varied stages of differentiation. TLC immunostaining of glycolipid extracts with a monoclonal antibody, 12-101, and FACS analysis with the same antibody were used to demonstrate that the expression of Gb3Cer in neoplastic myeloid and lymphoid cells is both lineage and differentiation dependent. As a possible control point in the regulated expression of Gb3Cer we have investigated the first committed step in the synthesis of globo series glycosphingolipids that involves UDP-Gal:LacCer α(1,4)-galactosyltransferase (α1,4GalT). We present the first characterization of this enzyme in a human myeloid cell line using an ELISA-based assay, which was subsequently used to measure α1,4GalT activity in the human leukaemia/lymphoma cell lines. In general, there is a positive correlation between the levels of endogenous Gb3Cer and the level of the α1,4GalT activity. However, in two cases (KG-1 and CCRF-CEM) the level of enzyme activity did not correspond to the level of Gb3Cer expression.