Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide (sugar) chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known as glycosylation. Secreted extracellular proteins are often glycosylated.
A congenital disorder of glycosylation is one of several rare inborn errors of metabolism in which glycosylation of a variety of tissue proteins and/or lipids is deficient or defective. Congenital disorders of glycosylation are sometimes known as CDG syndromes. They often cause serious, sometimes fatal, malfunction of several different organ systems in affected infants. The most common sub-type is PMM2-CDG where the genetic defect leads to the loss of phosphomannomutase 2 (PMM2), the enzyme responsible for the conversion of mannose-6-phosphate into mannose-1-phosphate.
Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate, i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule in order to form a glycoconjugate. In biology, glycosylation usually refers to an enzyme-catalysed reaction, whereas glycation may refer to a non-enzymatic reaction.
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) or mucopolysaccharides are long, linear polysaccharides consisting of repeating disaccharide units. The repeating two-sugar unit consists of a uronic sugar and an amino sugar, except in the case of the sulfated glycosaminoglycan keratan, where, in place of the uronic sugar there is a galactose unit. GAGs are found in vertebrates, invertebrates and bacteria. Because GAGs are highly polar molecules and attract water; the body uses them as lubricants or shock absorbers.
N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is an amide derivative of the monosaccharide glucose. It is a secondary amide between glucosamine and acetic acid. It is significant in several biological systems.
Glycosyltransferases are enzymes that establish natural glycosidic linkages. They catalyze the transfer of saccharide moieties from an activated nucleotide sugar to a nucleophilic glycosyl acceptor molecule, the nucleophile of which can be oxygen- carbon-, nitrogen-, or sulfur-based.
Hexosaminidase is an enzyme involved in the hydrolysis of terminal N-acetyl-D-hexosamine residues in N-acetyl-β-D-hexosaminides.
Tunicamycin is a mixture of homologous nucleoside antibiotics that inhibits the UDP-HexNAc: polyprenol-P HexNAc-1-P family of enzymes. In eukaryotes, this includes the enzyme GlcNAc phosphotransferase (GPT), which catalyzes the transfer of N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate from UDP-N-acetylglucosamine to dolichol phosphate in the first step of glycoprotein synthesis. Tunicamycin blocks N-linked glycosylation (N-glycans) and treatment of cultured human cells with tunicamycin causes cell cycle arrest in G1 phase. It is used as an experimental tool in biology, e.g. to induce unfolded protein response. Tunicamycin is produced by several bacteria, including Streptomyces clavuligerus and Streptomyces lysosuperificus.
ST3 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase 3, also known as ST3GAL3, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the ST3GAL3 gene.
Beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase 2 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the B4GALT2 gene.
Alpha-1,3-mannosyl-glycoprotein 4-beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase B is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the MGAT4B gene.
Alpha-1,6-mannosylglycoprotein 6-beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase B is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the MGAT5B gene.
Glycopeptides are peptides that contain carbohydrate moieties (glycans) covalently attached to the side chains of the amino acid residues that constitute the peptide.
N-linked glycosylation is the attachment of an oligosaccharide, a carbohydrate consisting of several sugar molecules, sometimes also referred to as glycan, to a nitrogen atom, in a process called N-glycosylation, studied in biochemistry. The resulting protein is called an N-linked glycan, or simply an N-glycan.
O-linked glycosylation is the attachment of a sugar molecule to the oxygen atom of serine (Ser) or threonine (Thr) residues in a protein. O-glycosylation is a post-translational modification that occurs after the protein has been synthesised. In eukaryotes, it occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and occasionally in the cytoplasm; in prokaryotes, it occurs in the cytoplasm. Several different sugars can be added to the serine or threonine, and they affect the protein in different ways by changing protein stability and regulating protein activity. O-glycans, which are the sugars added to the serine or threonine, have numerous functions throughout the body, including trafficking of cells in the immune system, allowing recognition of foreign material, controlling cell metabolism and providing cartilage and tendon flexibility. Because of the many functions they have, changes in O-glycosylation are important in many diseases including cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's. O-glycosylation occurs in all domains of life, including eukaryotes, archaea and a number of pathogenic bacteria including Burkholderia cenocepacia, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Acinetobacter baumannii.
Beta-1,3-galactosyl-O-glycosyl-glycoprotein beta-1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase is an enzyme with systematic name UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine:O-glycosyl-glycoprotein 6-beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyltransferase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Protein O-GlcNAc transferase also known as OGT or O-linked N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the OGT gene. OGT catalyzes the addition of the O-GlcNAc post-translational modification to proteins.
Protein O-GlcNAcase (EC 3.2.1.169, OGA, glycoside hydrolase O-GlcNAcase, O-GlcNAcase, BtGH84, O-GlcNAc hydrolase) is an enzyme with systematic name (protein)-3-O-(N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl)-L-serine/threonine N-acetylglucosaminyl hydrolase. OGA is encoded by the OGA gene. This enzyme catalyses the removal of the O-GlcNAc post-translational modification in the following chemical reaction:
- [protein]-3-O-(N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminyl)-L-serine + H2O ⇌ [protein]-L-serine + N-acetyl-D-glucosamine
- [protein]-3-O-(N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminyl)-L-threonine + H2O ⇌ [protein]-L-threonine + N-acetyl-D-glucosamine
O-GlcNAc is a reversible enzymatic post-translational modification that is found on serine and threonine residues of nucleocytoplasmic proteins. The modification is characterized by a β-glycosidic bond between the hydroxyl group of serine or threonine side chains and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). O-GlcNAc differs from other forms of protein glycosylation: (i) O-GlcNAc is not elongated or modified to form more complex glycan structures, (ii) O-GlcNAc is almost exclusively found on nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins rather than membrane proteins and secretory proteins, and (iii) O-GlcNAc is a highly dynamic modification that turns over more rapidly than the proteins which it modifies. O-GlcNAc is conserved across metazoans.
Alpha-1,3-mannosyl-glycoprotein 4-beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase A is a type II membrane protein and an enzyme – particularly a glycosyltransferase – that, in addition to the related isoenzyme B (MGAT4B), takes part in the transfer of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to the core mannose residues of N-linked glycans in Golgi apparatus. Therefore, it is essential for the formation of tri- and tetra-antennary sugar chains. Furthermore, it is involved in glucose transport by mediating SLC2A2/GLUT2 glycosylation with controlling cell-surface expression of SLC2A2 in pancreatic beta cells and, as it is suggested, in regulating the availability of serum glycoproteins, oncogenesis, and differentiation.
