Kentaro Naruchi

Artificial Golgi Apparatus: Globular Protein-like Dendrimer Facilitates Fully Automated Enzymatic Glycan Synthesis

Despite the growing importance of synthetic glycans as tools for biological studies and drug discovery, a lack of common methods for the routine synthesis remains a major obstacle. We have developed a new method for automated glycan synthesis that employs the enzymatic approach and a dendrimer as an ideal support within the chemical process. Recovery tests using a hollow fiber ultrafiltration module have revealed that monodisperse G6 (MW = 58 kDa) and G7 (MW = 116 kDa) poly(amidoamine) dendrimers exhibit a similar profile to BSA (MW = 66 kDa). Characteristics of the globular protein-like G7 dendrimer with high solubility and low viscosity in water greatly enhanced throughput and efficiency in automated synthesis while random polyacrylamide-based supports entail significant loss during the repetitive reaction/separation step. The present protocol allowed for the fully automated enzymatic synthesis of sialyl Lewis X tetrasaccharide derivatives over a period of 4 days in 16% overall yield from a simple N-acetyl-d-glucosamine linked to an aminooxy-functionalized G7 dendrimer.

An Efficient Approach for the Characterization of Mucin‐Type Glycopeptides: The Effect of O‐Glycosylation on the Conformation of Synthetic Mucin Peptides

Despite the growing importance of mucin core O-glycosylation in many biological processes including the protection of epithelial cell surfaces, the immune response, cell adhesion, inflammation, and tumorigenesis/metastasis, the regulation mechanism and conformational significance of the multiple introduction of α-GalNAc residues by UDP-GalNAc:polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferases (ppGalNAcTs) remains unclear. Here we report an efficient approach by combining MS and NMR spectroscopy that allows for the identification of O-glycosylation site(s) and the effect of O-glycosylation on the peptide backbone structures during enzymatic mucin domain assembly by using an isoform UDP-GalNAc:polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase-T2 (ppGalNAcT2) in vitro. An electron-capture dissociation device in a linear radio-frequency quadrupole ion trap (RFQ-ECD) combined with a time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer was employed for the identification of Thr/Ser residues occupied by α-GalNAc branching among multiple and potential O-glycosylation sites in the tandem repeats of human mucin glycoproteins MUC4 (Thr-Ser-Ser-Ala-Ser-Thr-Gly-His-Ala-Thr-Pro-Leu-Pro-Val-Thr-Asp) and MUC5AC (Pro-Thr-Thr-Val-Gly-Ser-Thr-Thr-Val-Gly). In the present study, O-glycosylation was initiated specifically at Thr10 in naked MUC4 peptide and additional introduction of α-GalNAc proceeded preferentially but randomly at three other Thr residues to afford densely glycosylated MUC4 containing six α-GalNAc residues at Thr1, Ser2, Ser5, Thr6, Thr10, and Thr15. On the contrary, O-glycosylation of naked MUC5AC peptide occurred predominantly at consecutive Thr residues and led to MUC5AC with four α-GalNAc residues at Thr2, Thr3, Thr7, and Thr8. The solution structures determined by NMR spectroscopic studies elicited that the preferential introduction of α-GalNAc at Thr10 of MUC4 stabilizes specifically a β-like extended backbone structure at this area, whereas other synthetic models with a single α-GalNAc residue at Thr1, Thr6, or Thr15 did not exhibit any converged three-dimensional structure at the proximal peptide moiety. Such conformational impact on the underlying peptides was proved to be remarkable in the glycosylation at the consecutive Thr residues of MUC5AC.

Site-Specific Conformational Alteration Induced by Sialylation of MUC1 Tandem Repeating Glycopeptides at an Epitope Region for the Anti-KL-6 Monoclonal Antibody

Protein O-glycosylation is an essential step for controlling structure and biological functions of glycoproteins involving differentiation, cell adhesion, immune response, inflammation, and tumorigenesis and metastasis. This study provides evidence of site-specific structural alteration induced during multiple sialylation at Ser/Thr residues of the tandem repeats in human MUC1 glycoprotein. Systematic nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study revealed that sialylation of the MUC1 tandem repeating glycopeptide, Pro-Pro-Ala-His-Gly-Val-Thr-Ser-Ala-Pro-Asp-Thr-Arg-Pro-Ala-Pro-Gly-Ser-Thr-Ala with core 2-type O-glycans at five potential glycosylation sites, afforded a specific conformational change at one of the most important cancer-relevant epitopes (Pro-Asp-Thr-Arg). This result indicates that disease-relevant epitope structures of human epithelial cell surface mucins can be altered both by the introduction of an inner GalNAc residue and by the distal sialylation in a peptide sequence-dependent manner. These data demonstrate the feasibility of NMR-based structural characterization of glycopeptides synthesized in a chemical and enzymatic manner in examining the conformational impact of the distal glycosylation at multiple O-glycosylation sites of mucin-like domains.

A straightforward protocol for the preparation of high performance microarray displaying synthetic MUC1 glycopeptides

BACKGROUND Human serum MUC1 peptide fragments bearing aberrant O-glycans are secreted from columnar epithelial cell surfaces and known as clinically important serum biomarkers for the epithelial carcinoma when a specific monoclonal antibody can probe disease-relevant epitopes. Despite the growing importance of MUC1 glycopeptides as biomarkers, the precise epitopes of most anti-MUC1 monoclonal antibodies remains unclear. METHODS A novel protocol for the fabrication of versatile microarray displaying peptide/glycopeptide library was investigated for the construction of highly sensitive and accurate epitope mapping assay of various anti-MUC1 antibodies. RESULTS Selective imine-coupling between aminooxy-functionalized methacrylic copolymer with phosphorylcholine unit and synthetic MUC1 glycopeptides-capped by a ketone linker at N-terminus provided a facile and seamless protocol for the preparation of glycopeptides microarray platform. It was demonstrated that anti-KL-6 monoclonal antibody shows an extremely specific and strong binding affinity toward MUC1 fragments carrying sialyl T antigen (Neu5Acα2,3Galβ1,3GalNAcα1→) at Pro-Asp-Thr-Arg motif when compared with other seven anti-MUC1 monoclonal antibodies such as VU-3D1, VU-12E1, VU-11E2, Ma552, VU-3C6, SM3, and DF3. The present microarray also uncovered the occurrence of IgG autoantibodies in healthy human sera that bind specifically with sialyl T antigen attached at five potential O-glycosylation sites of MUC1 tandem repeats. CONCLUSION We established a straightforward strategy toward the standardized microarray platform allowing highly sensitive and accurate epitope mapping analysis by reducing the background noise due to nonspecific protein adsorption. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE The present approach would greatly accelerate the discovery research of new class autoantibodies as well as the development of therapeutic mAbs reacting specifically with disease-relevant epitopes.

Microwave‐Assisted Solid‐Phase Synthesis of Antifreeze Glycopeptides

Microwave-assisted solid-phase synthesis allows for the rapid and large-scale preparation and structure-activity characterization of tandem repeating glycopeptides, namely monodispersed synthetic antifreeze glycopeptides (syAFGPs, H-[Ala-Thr(Galβ1,3GalNAcα1→)-Ala]n -OH, n=2-6). By employing novel AFGP analogues, we have demonstrated that of the monodispersed syAFGPn (n=2-6, degree of polymerization, DP=2-6, Mw =1257-3690 Da), syAFGP5 (DP=5, Mw =3082 Da) and syAFGP6 (DP=6, Mw =3690 Da) exhibit the ability to form typical hexagonal bipyramidal ice crystals and satisfactory thermal hysteresis activity. Structural characterization by NMR and CD spectroscopy revealed that syAFGP6 forms a typical poly-L-proline type II helix-like structure in aqueous solution whereas enzymatic modification by sialic acid of the residues at the C-3 positions of the nonreducing Gal residues disturbs this conformation and eliminates the antifreeze activity.

Rapid Endolysosomal Escape and Controlled Intracellular Trafficking of Cell Surface Mimetic Quantum-Dots-Anchored Peptides and Glycopeptides

A novel strategy for the development of a high performance nanoparticules platform was established by means of cell surface mimetic quantum-dots (QDs)-anchored peptides/glycopeptides, which was developed as a model system for nanoparticle-based drug delivery (NDD) vehicles with defined functions helping the specific intracellular trafficking after initial endocytosis. In this paper, we proposed a standardized protocol for the preparation of multifunctional QDs that allows for efficient cellular uptake and rapid escaping from the endolysosomal system and subsequent cytoplasmic molecular delivery to the target cellular compartment. Chemoselective ligation of the ketone-functionalized hexahistidine derivative facilitated both efficient endocytic entry and rapid endolysosomal escape of the aminooxy/phosphorylcholine self-assembled monolayer-coated QDs (AO/PCSAM-QDs) to the cytosol in various cell lines such as human normal and cancer cells, while modifications of these QDs with cell-penetrating arginine-rich peptides showed poor cellular uptake and induced self-aggregation of AO/PCSAM-QDs. Combined use of hexahistidylated AO/PCSAM-QDs with serglycine-like glycopeptides, namely synthetic proteoglycan initiators (PGIs), elicited the entry and controlled intracellular trafficking, Golgi localization, and also excretion of these nanoparticles, which suggested that the present approach would provide an ideal platform for the design of high performance NDD systems.

A New Approach for the Synthesis of Hyperbranched N-Glycan Core Structures from Locust Bean Gum

A novel protocol for the synthesis of general N-glycan core structures was established by means of Manβ(1→4)Man peracetate derived from a naturally abundant locust bean gum as a key starting material. Phenyl (2-O-benzyl-4,6-O-benzylidine-β-D-mannopyranosyl)-(1→4)-3,6-di-O-benzyl-2-azido-2-deoxy-1-thio-β-D-glucopyranoside facilitated the synthesis of key intermediates leading to hyperbranched N-glycan core structures.

Membrane-Bound Stable Glycosyltransferases: Highly Oriented Protein Immobilization by a C-Terminal Cationic Amphipathic Peptide†

Pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria produce glycolipid antigens called lipopolysaccharides on their surfaces, many of which mimic host cell surface carbohydrate structures to mask the pathogen from host immune surveillance. The human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori can express both type 1 and type 2 Lewis blood-group antigens that also are found in gastric epithelial cell surface carbohydrate structures. It is well documented that a1,3/a1,4-fucosyltransferases [(a1,3/ a1,4)-FucTs] are crucial enzymes responsible for the synthesis of Lewis-type antigens. Although molecular cloning and expression of the H. pylori a1,3/a1,4-FucTs gene have been reported, production of full-length FucTs from H. pylori has not been achieved because of the insolubility caused by the C-terminal sequence that has two to ten repeats of seven amino acids, known as heptad repeats, followed by a highly conserved region rich in cationic and hydrophobic residues. It was suggested that the heptad repeat region contains a leucine zipperlike motif responsible for dimerization, which might be essential for enzyme function. On the other hand, it is considered that the two putative amphipathic a helices might function as a membrane anchor with the hydrophobic face embedded in the membrane and the positive charges interacting with negatively charged phospholipid head groups. It seems likely that C-terminal amphipathic a helices and the preceding heptad repeat region in H. pylori a1,3/ a1,4-FucTs may be functionally equivalent to the N-terminal transmembrane domain and the stem region of mammalian counterparts known as typical Golgi-resident type II membrane glycosyltransferases. Taylor et al. revealed that removal of the C-terminal putative amphipathic a helices dramatically increased both the expression level and solubility of H. pylori (a1,3/a1,4)FucTs without significant loss of the specific enzyme activity. It was also reported that the poor solubility of this enzyme can be improved by systematic deletion of the C terminus involving heptad repeats, and large quantities of these soluble truncated H. pylori a1,3-FucTs allow for the investigation of crystal structure and insight into the catalytic mechanism. We postulated the existence of a specific mechanism for controlling the affinity of the C-terminal region with bacterial membrane phospholipids, to prevent the formation of undesirable insoluble aggregates during biosynthetic processes of intact and full-length FucTs as naturally occurring bacterial membrane-bound enzymes. Our attention was directed toward a sequence similarity of this amphipathic C-terminal tail with a unique class of short and linear cationic peptides showing antimicrobial activity. Herein, we show direct evidence of the specific functions of this unique C-terminal peptide of bacterial membranebound glycosyltransferases. The findings also lend this mechanism to a novel and general concept allowing for highly oriented immobilization of engineered enzymes on membrane-mimetic artificial solid surfaces. To assess the importance of the conformational changes in a putative secondary structure of the C-terminal amphipathic peptide of H. pylori a1,3/a1,4-FucTs, we synthesized a model peptide containing 24 C-terminal amino acid residues, GGGFKIYRKAYQKSLPLLRTIRRWVKK (G3-capped C-terminal tail). The circular dichroism (CD) spectra of this synthetic model revealed that formation of an a-helical structure is induced by interaction with n-dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelles at both pH 7.0 and pH 10.0, while this peptide does not form any specific secondary structures as indicated by the random-coil patterns in the absence of DPC micelles (Figure 1 and Figure S1 in the Supporting Information).

Synthesis of neoglycosphingolipid from methoxyamino-functionalized ceramide.

An efficient approach for the synthesis of a methoxyamino-functionalized ceramide was established from phytosphingosine using specific Nβ→Nα acyl migration of the octadecanoyl group during the removal of Nα-Fmoc protective group. One step glycoblotting reaction of the ceramide mimic with lactose afforded a neoglycosphingolipid showing potent inhibitory activity against recombinant endoglycoceramidase II from Rhodococcus sp.

Macrocyclic Mechanism‐Based Inhibitor for Neuraminidases

A macrocyclic mechanism-based inhibitor for neuraminidases (NAs) bearing a 2-difluoromethylphenyl aglycone and a linker between the aglycone and C-9 positions of sialic acid was synthesized and evaluated. The macrocyclic structure was designed to keep the aglycone moiety in the active site of the neuraminidase after cleavage of the glycoside bond. When Vibrio chorelae neuraminidase (VCNA) was treated with a similar acyclic derivative in the presence of detergent, the irreversible inhibition property was disabled. In contrast, this macrocyclic compound acted as an irreversible inhibitor for VCNA in the presence of detergent. Inhibition assay for various NAs using this macrocyclic compound revealed that the irreversible inhibition property depends on the k(cat) of the neuraminidase treated. NAs having small k(cat) values, such as Influenza viruses, Clostridium, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Human, were also inhibited irreversibly. However, Salmonella typhimurium NA, which has an extremely high k(cat) , was not affected irreversibly by the inhibitor. Interestingly, in contrast to common k(cat) inhibitors, the irreversibility of inhibition by this macrocyclic compound is inversely proportional to the k(cat) of the target neuraminidase.