Xiaofeng Shi

Organ-specific Heparan Sulfate Structural Phenotypes

The functions of heparan sulfate (HS) depend on the expression of structural domains that interact with protein partners. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) exhibit a high degree of polydispersity in their composition, chain length, sulfation, acetylation, and epimerization patterns. It is essential for the understanding of GAG biochemistry to produce detailed structural information as a function of spatial and temporal factors in biological systems. Toward this end, we developed a set of procedures to extract GAGs from various rat organ tissues and examined and compared HS expression levels using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Here we demonstrate detailed variations in HS GAG chains as a function of organ location. These studies shed new light on the structural variation of GAG chains with respect to average length, disaccharide composition, and expression of low abundance structural epitopes, including unsubstituted amino groups and lyase-resistant oligosaccharides. The data show the presence of a disaccharide with an unsubstituted amino group that is endogenous and widely expressed in mammalian organ tissues.

A chip‐based amide‐HILIC LC/MS platform for glycosaminoglycan glycomics profiling

A key challenge to investigations into the functional roles of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in biological systems is the difficulty in achieving sensitive, stable, and reproducible mass spectrometric analysis. GAGs are linear carbohydrates with domains that vary in the extent of sulfation, acetylation, and uronic acid epimerization. It is of particular importance to determine spatial and temporal variations of GAG domain structures in biological tissues. In order to analyze GAGs from tissue, it is useful to couple MS with an on‐line separation system. The purposes of the separation system are both to remove components that inhibit GAG ionization and to enable the analysis of very complex mixtures. This contribution presents amide–silica hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) in a chip‐based format for LC/MS of heparin, heparan sulfate (HS) GAGs. The chip interface yields robust performance in the negative ion mode that is essential for GAGs and other acidic glycan classes while the built‐in trapping cartridge reduces background from the biological tissue matrix. The HILIC chromatographic separation is based on a combination of the glycan chain lengths and the numbers of hydrophobic acetate (Ac) groups and acidic sulfate groups. In summary, chip based amide‐HILIC LC/MS is an enabling technology for GAG glycomics profiling.

Extended N-sulfated domains reside at the nonreducing end of heparan sulfate chains.

Heparan sulfate (HS) serves as a cell-surface co-receptor for growth factors, morphogens, and chemokines. These HS and protein binding events depend on the fine structure and distribution of domains along an HS chain. A given domain can vary in terms of uronic acid epimer, N- and O-sulfate, and N-acetate content. The most highly sulfated regions of HS chains, N-sulfated (NS) domains, play prominent roles in HS and protein binding. We have analyzed HS oligosaccharides from various mammalian sources and provide evidence that NS domains residing at the nonreducing end (NRE) are, on average, longer than those residing in the internal regions of the chain. Additionally, they are more highly sulfated than their internal counterparts. These features are independent of the sulfation pattern of the bulk HS chains. From disaccharide analysis, it is clear that NS domains do not always occupy HS NREs. However, when they do, they tend to terminate in a subset of N-sulfated disaccharides. Our observations are consistent with a significant role of NRE NS domains in HS-growth factor interactions.

Improved liquid chromatography-MS/MS of heparan sulfate oligosaccharides via chip-based pulsed makeup flow.

Microfluidic chip-based hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) is a useful separation system for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in compositional profiling of heparan sulfate (HS) oligosaccharides; however, ions observed using HILIC LC-MS are low in charge. Tandem MS of HS oligosaccharide ions with low charge results in undesirable losses of SO(3) from precursor ions during collision induced dissociation. One solution is to add metal cations to stabilize sulfate groups. Another is to add a nonvolatile, polar compound such as sulfolane, a molecule known to supercharge proteins, to produce a similar effect for oligosaccharides. We demonstrate use of a novel pulsed makeup flow (MUF) HPLC-chip. The chip enables controlled application of additives during specified chromatographic time windows and thus minimizes the extent to which nonvolatile additives build up in the ion source. The pulsed MUF system was applied to LC-MS/MS of HS oligosaccharides. Metal cations and sulfolane were tested as additives. The most promising results were obtained for sulfolane, for which supercharging of the oligosaccharide ions increased their signal strengths relative to controls. Tandem MS of these supercharged precursor ions showed decreased abundances of product ions from sulfate losses yet more abundant product ions from backbone cleavages.

Heparan Sulfate 6-O-endosulfatases (Sulfs) Coordinate the Wnt Signaling Pathways to Regulate Myoblast Fusion during Skeletal Muscle Regeneration

Background: The Sulf enzymes regulate HS-dependent extracellular signaling during skeletal muscle regeneration. Results: The skeletal muscle-specific Sulf double null mice exhibit reduced new myofiber size and defective Wnt signaling. Conclusion: Sulfs promote canonical Wnt signaling to antagonize noncanonical signaling, thereby enhancing myoblast fusion. Significance: Understanding the mechanisms of myoblast fusion will help to enhance the efficacy of muscle regeneration. Skeletal muscle regeneration is mediated by satellite cells (SCs). Upon injury, SCs undergo self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation into myoblasts followed by myoblast fusion to form new myofibers. We previously showed that the heparan sulfate (HS) 6-O-endosulfatases (Sulf1 and -2) repress FGF signaling to induce SC differentiation during muscle regeneration. Here, we identify a novel role of Sulfs in myoblast fusion using a skeletal muscle-specific Sulf double null (SulfSK-DN) mouse. Regenerating SulfSK-DN muscles exhibit reduced canonical Wnt signaling and elevated non-canonical Wnt signaling. In addition, we show that Sulfs are required to repress non-canonical Wnt signaling to promote myoblast fusion. Notably, skeletal muscle-relevant non-canonical Wnt ligands lack HS binding capacity, suggesting that Sulfs indirectly repress this pathway. Mechanistically, we show that Sulfs reduce the canonical Wnt-HS binding and regulate colocalization of the co-receptor LRP5 with caveolin3. Therefore, Sulfs may increase the bioavailability of canonical Wnts for Frizzled receptor and LRP5/6 interaction in lipid raft, which may in turn antagonize non-canonical Wnt signaling. Furthermore, changes in subcellular distribution of active focal adhesion kinase (FAK) are associated with the fusion defect of Sulf-deficient myoblasts and upon non-canonical Wnt treatment. Together, our findings uncover a critical role of Sulfs in myoblast fusion by promoting antagonizing canonical Wnt signaling activities against the noncanonical Wnt pathway during skeletal muscle regeneration.

Dermatan Sulfate Is Involved in the Tumorigenic Properties of Esophagus Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Extracellular matrix, either produced by cancer cells or by cancer-associated fibroblasts, influences angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. Chondroitin/dermatan sulfate (CS/DS) proteoglycans, which occur both in the matrix and at the cell surface, play important roles in these processes. The unique feature that distinguishes DS from CS is the presence of iduronic acid (IdoA) in DS. Here, we report that CS/DS is increased five-fold in human biopsies of esophagus squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), an aggressive tumor with poor prognosis, as compared with normal tissue. The main IdoA-producing enzyme, DS epimerase 1 (DS-epi1), together with the 6-O- and 4-O-sulfotransferases, were highly upregulated in ESCC biopsies. Importantly, CS/DS structure in patient tumors was significantly altered compared with normal tissue, as determined by sensitive mass spectrometry. To further understand the roles of IdoA in tumor development, DS-epi1 expression, and consequently IdoA content, was downregulated in ESCC cells. IdoA-deficient cells exhibited decreased migration and invasion capabilities in vitro, which was associated with reduced cellular binding of hepatocyte growth factor, inhibition of pERK-1/2 signaling, and deregulated actin cytoskeleton dynamics and focal adhesion formation. Our findings show that IdoA in DS influences tumorigenesis by affecting cancer cell behavior. Therefore, downregulation of IdoA by DS-epi1 inhibitors may represent a new anticancer therapy.

Comparative glycomics of leukocyte glycosaminoglycans

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) vary widely in disaccharide and oligosaccharide content in a tissue‐specific manner. Nonetheless, there are common structural features, such as the presence of highly sulfated non‐reducing end domains on heparan sulfate (HS) chains. Less clear are the patterns of expression of GAGs on specific cell types. Leukocytes are known to express GAGs primarily of the chondroitin sulfate (CS) type. However, little is known regarding the properties and structures of the GAG chains, their variability among normal subjects, and changes in structure associated with disease conditions. We isolated peripheral blood leukocyte populations from four human donors and extracted GAGs. We determined the relative and absolute disaccharide abundances for HS and CS GAGs classes using size exclusion chromatography‐mass spectrometry (SEC‐MS). We found that all leukocytes express HS chains with a level of sulfation that is more similar to heparin than to organ‐derived HS. The levels of HS expression follows the trend T cells/B cells > monocytes/natural killer cells > polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). In addition, CS abundances were considerably higher than total HS but varied considerably in a leukocyte cell type‐specific manner. Levels of CS were higher for myeloid lineage cells (PMNs and monocytes) than for lymphoid cells (B, T and natural killer (NK) cells). This information establishes the range of GAG structures expressed on normal leukocytes and is necessary for subsequent inquiry into disease conditions.

Glycomics analysis of mammalian heparan sulfates modified by the human extracellular sulfatase HSulf2.

Background The Sulfs are a family of endosulfatases that selectively modify the 6O-sulfation state of cell-surface heparan sulfate (HS) molecules. Sulfs serve as modulators of cell-signaling events because the changes they induce alter the cell surface co-receptor functions of HS chains. A variety of studies have been aimed at understanding how Sulfs modify HS structure, and many of these studies utilize Sulf knockout cell lines as the source for the HS used in the experiments. However, genetic manipulation of Sulfs has been shown to alter the expression levels of HS biosynthetic enzymes, and in these cases an assessment of the fine structural changes induced solely by Sulf enzymatic activity is not possible. Therefore, the present work aims to extend the understanding of substrate specificities of HSulf2 using in vitro experiments to compare HSulf2 activities on HS from different organ tissues. Methodology/Principal Findings To further the understanding of Sulf enzymatic activity, we conducted in vitro experiments where a variety of mammalian HS substrates were modified by recombinant human Sulf2 (HSulf2). Subsequent to treatment with HSulf2, the HS samples were exhaustively depolymerized and analyzed using size-exclusion liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (SEC-LC/MS). We found that HSulf2 activity was highly dependent on the structural features of the HS substrate. Additionally, we characterized, for the first time, the activity of HSulf2 on the non-reducing end (NRE) of HS chains. The results indicate that the action pattern of HSulf2 at the NRE is different compared to internally within the HS chain. Conclusions/Significance The results of the present study indicate that the activity of Sulfs is dependent on the unique structural features of the HS populations that they edit. The activity of HSulf2 at HS NREs implicates the Sulfs as key regulators of this region of the chains, and concomitantly, the protein-binding events that occur there.

Mass Spectrometric Method for Determining the Uronic Acid Epimerization in Heparan Sulfate Disaccharides Generated Using Nitrous Acid

Heparan sulfate (HS) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) regulate a host of biological functions. To better understand their biological roles, it is necessary to gain understanding about the structure of HS, which requires identification of the sulfation pattern as well as the uronic acid epimerization. In order to model HS structure, it is necessary to quantitatively profile depolymerization products. To date, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods for profiling heparin lyase decomposition products have been shown. These enzymes, however, destroy information about uronic acid epimerization. Deaminative cleavage using nitrous acid (HONO) is a classic method for GAG depolymerization that retains uronic acid epimerization. Several chromatographic methods have been used for analysis of deaminative cleavage products. The chromatographic methods have the disadvantage that there is no direct readout on the structures producing the observed peaks. This report demonstrates a porous graphitized carbon (PGC)-MS method for the quantification of HONO generated disaccharides to obtain information about the sulfation pattern and uronic acid epimerization. Here, we demonstrate the separation and identification of uronic acid epimers as well as geometric sulfation isomers. The results are comparable to those expected for benchmark HS and heparin samples. The data demonstrate the utility of PGC-MS for quantification of HS nitrous acid depolymerization products for structural analysis of HS and heparin.

A typical preparation of Francisella tularensis O-antigen yields a mixture of three types of saccharides.

Tularemia is a severe infectious disease in humans caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Francisella tularensis (Ft). Because of its low infectious dose, high mortality rate, and the threat of its large-scale dissemination in weaponized form, development of vaccines and immunotherapeutics against Ft is essential. Ft lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which contains the linear graded-length saccharide component O-antigen (OAg) attached to a core oligosaccharide, has been reported as a protective antigen. Purification of LPS saccharides of defined length and composition is necessary to reveal the epitopes targeted by protective antibodies. In this study, we purified saccharides from LPS preparations from both the Ft subspecies holarctica live vaccine strain (LVS) and the virulent Ft subspecies tularensis SchuS4 strain using liquid chromatography. We then characterized the fractions using high-resolution mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry. Three types of saccharides were observed in both the LVS and SchuS4 preparations: two consisting of OAg tetrasaccharide repeats attached to one of two core oligosaccharide variants and one consisting of tetrasaccharide repeats only (coreless). The coreless OAg oligosaccharides were shown to contain Qui4NFm (4,6-dideoxy-4-formamido-D-glucose) at the nonreducing end and QuiNAc (2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-O-D-glucose) at the reducing end. Purified homogeneous preparations of saccharides of each type will allow mapping of protective epitopes in Ft LPS.