Germline C1GALT1C1 mutation causes a multisystem chaperonopathy.

Mutations in genes encoding molecular chaperones can lead to chaperonopathies, but none have so far been identified causing congenital disorders of glycosylation. Here we identified two maternal half-brothers with a novel chaperonopathy, causing impaired protein O-glycosylation. The patients have a decreased activity of T-synthase (C1GALT1), an enzyme that exclusively synthesizes the T-antigen, a ubiquitous O-glycan core structure and precursor for all extended O-glycans. The T-synthase function is dependent on its specific molecular chaperone Cosmc, which is encoded by X-chromosomal C1GALT1C1. Both patients carry the hemizygous variant c.59C>A (p.Ala20Asp; A20D-Cosmc) in C1GALT1C1. They exhibit developmental delay, immunodeficiency, short stature, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury (AKI) resembling atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. Their heterozygous mother and maternal grandmother show an attenuated phenotype with skewed X-inactivation in blood. AKI in the male patients proved fully responsive to treatment with the complement inhibitor Eculizumab. This germline variant occurs within the transmembrane domain of Cosmc, resulting in dramatically reduced expression of the Cosmc protein. Although A20D-Cosmc is functional, its decreased expression, though in a cell or tissue-specific manner, causes a large reduction of T-synthase protein and activity, which accordingly leads to expression of varied amounts of pathological Tn-antigen (GalNAcα1-O-Ser/Thr/Tyr) on multiple glycoproteins. Transient transfection of patient lymphoblastoid cells with wild-type C1GALT1C1 partially rescued the T-synthase and glycosylation defect. Interestingly, all four affected individuals have high levels of galactose-deficient IgA1 in sera. These results demonstrate that the A20D-Cosmc mutation defines a novel O-glycan chaperonopathy and causes the altered O-glycosylation status in these patients.

Antigenic Pressure on H3N2 Influenza Virus Drift Strains Imposes Constraints on Binding to Sialylated Receptors but Not Phosphorylated Glycans.

H3N2 strains of influenza A virus emerged in humans in 1968 and have continued to circulate, evolving in response to human immune pressure. During this process of "antigenic drift," viruses have progressively lost the ability to agglutinate erythrocytes of various species and to replicate efficiently under the established conditions for amplifying clinical isolates and generating vaccine candidates. We have determined the glycome profiles of chicken and guinea pig erythrocytes to gain insights into reduced agglutination properties displayed by drifted strains and show that both chicken and guinea pig erythrocytes contain complex sialylated N-glycans but that they differ with respect to the extent of branching, core fucosylation, and the abundance of poly-N-acetyllactosamine (PL) [-3Galß1-4GlcNAcß1-]n structures. We also examined binding of the H3N2 viruses using three different glycan microarrays: the synthetic Consortium for Functional Glycomics array; the defined N-glycan array designed to reveal contributions to binding based on sialic acid linkage type, branched structures, and core modifications; and the human lung shotgun glycan microarray. The results demonstrate that H3N2 viruses have progressively lost their capacity to bind nearly all canonical sialylated receptors other than a selection of biantennary structures and PL structures with or without sialic acid. Significantly, all viruses displayed robust binding to nonsialylated high-mannose phosphorylated glycans, even as the recognition of sialylated structures is decreased through antigenic drift.IMPORTANCE Influenza subtype H3N2 viruses have circulated in humans for over 50 years, continuing to cause annual epidemics. Such viruses have undergone antigenic drift in response to immune pressure, reducing the protective effects of preexisting immunity to previously circulating H3N2 strains. The changes in hemagglutinin (HA) affiliated with drift have implications for the receptor binding properties of these viruses, affecting virus replication in the culture systems commonly used to generate and amplify vaccine strains. Therefore, the antigenic properties of the vaccines may not directly reflect those of the circulating strains from which they were derived, compromising vaccine efficacy. In order to reproducibly provide effective vaccines, it will be critical to understand the interrelationships between binding, antigenicity, and replication properties in different growth substrates.

Shotgun glycomics of pig lung identifies natural endogenous receptors for influenza viruses.

Influenza viruses bind to host cell surface glycans containing terminal sialic acids, but as studies on influenza binding become more sophisticated, it is becoming evident that although sialic acid may be necessary, it is not sufficient for productive binding. To better define endogenous glycans that serve as viral receptors, we have explored glycan recognition in the pig lung, because influenza is broadly disseminated in swine, and swine have been postulated as an intermediary host for the emergence of pandemic strains. For these studies, we used the technology of "shotgun glycomics" to identify natural receptor glycans. The total released N- and O-glycans from pig lung glycoproteins and glycolipid-derived glycans were fluorescently tagged and separated by multidimensional HPLC, and individual glycans were covalently printed to generate pig lung shotgun glycan microarrays. All viruses tested interacted with one or more sialylated N-glycans but not O-glycans or glycolipid-derived glycans, and each virus demonstrated novel and unexpected differences in endogenous N-glycan recognition. The results illustrate the repertoire of specific, endogenous N-glycans of pig lung glycoproteins for virus recognition and offer a new direction for studying endogenous glycan functions in viral pathogenesis.

Influenza binds phosphorylated glycans from human lung.

Influenza A viruses can bind sialic acid-terminating glycan receptors, and species specificity is often correlated with sialic acid linkage with avian strains recognizing α2,3-linked sialylated glycans and mammalian strains preferring α2,6-linked sialylated glycans. These paradigms derive primarily from studies involving erythrocyte agglutination, binding to synthetic receptor analogs or binding to undefined surface markers on cells or tissues. Here, we present the first examination of the N-glycome of the human lung for identifying natural receptors for a range of avian and mammalian influenza viruses. We found that the human lung contains many α2,3- and α2,6-linked sialylated glycan determinants bound by virus, but all viruses also bound to phosphorylated, nonsialylated glycans.

Estimating the economic impact of secondhand smoke on the health of a community.

PURPOSE: This study provides a model to estimate the health-related costs of secondhand smoke exposure at a community level. MODEL DEVELOPMENT: Costs of secondhand smoke-related mortality and morbidity were estimated using national attributable risk values for diseases that are causally related to secondhand smoke exposure for adults and children. Estimated costs included ambulatory care costs, hospital inpatient costs, and loss of life costs based on vital statistics, hospital discharge data, and census data. APPLICATION OF THE MODEL: The model was used to estimate health-related costs estimates of secondhand smoke exposure for Marion County, Indiana. Attributable risk values were applied to the number of deaths and hospital discharges to determine the number of individuals impacted by secondhand smoke exposure. RESULTS: The overall cost of health care and premature loss of life attributed to secondhand smoke for the study county was estimated to be $53.9 million in 2000-$10.5 million in health care costs and $20.3 million in loss of life for children compared with $6.2 million in health care costs and $16.9 million in loss of life for adults. This amounted to $62.68 per capita. CONCLUSIONS: This method may be replicated in other counties to provide data needed to educate the public and community leaders about the health effects and costs of secondhand smoke exposure.

Impact of the life skills training curriculum on middle school students tobacco use in Marion County, Indiana, 1997-2000.

Evaluation of school-based tobacco prevention and control programs have yielded mixed results. This study assessed the impact of the Life Skills Training curriculum on Marion County, Ind., middle school students' knowledge, attitudes, and ability to make good lifestyle decisions. From 1997 to 2000, students in grades six to eight in the study schools received the Life Skills Training curriculum. Survey data (n = 1,598) were used to compare tobacco use behavior, attitudes, and knowledge of those exposed with those not exposed to the program. Of the students surveyed, 12.5% were currently smoking. There were significantly fewer current smokers, and more students exposed to the program indicated they intended to stay smoke-free. Fewer of those participating in the program "hung out" with smokers and more said they could easily refuse a cigarette if offered one. Students completing the Life Skills Training curriculum were more knowledgeable about the health effects of smoking. Program effects were different for male and female students as well as for White and Black students.

Single residue deletions along the length of the influenza HA fusion peptide lead to inhibition of membrane fusion function.

A panel of eight single amino acid deletion mutants was generated within the first 24 residues of the fusion peptide domain of the of the hemagglutinin (HA) of A/Aichi/2/68 influenza A virus (H3N2 subtype). The mutant HAs were analyzed for folding, cell surface transport, cleavage activation, capacity to undergo acid-induced conformational changes, and membrane fusion activity. We found that the mutant DeltaF24, at the C-terminal end of the fusion peptide, was expressed in a non-native conformation, whereas all other deletion mutants were transported to the cell surface and could be cleaved into HA1 and HA2 to activate membrane fusion potential. Furthermore, upon acidification these cleaved HAs were able to undergo the characteristic structural rearrangements that are required for fusion. Despite this, all mutants were inhibited for fusion activity based on two separate assays. The results indicate that the mutant fusion peptide domains associate with target membranes in a non-functional fashion, and suggest that structural features along the length of the fusion peptide are likely to be relevant for optimal membrane fusion activity.