'Glyco-deglyco' processes during the synthesis of N-glycoproteins.

For the past 15 years, it has appeared increasingly evident that the N-glycosylation process was accompanied by the release of oligomannoside type oligosaccharides. This material is constituted of oligosaccharide-phosphates and of neutral oligosaccharides possessing one GlcNAc (OS-Gn1) or two GlcNAc (OS-Gn2) at the reducing end. It has been demonstrated that oligosaccharide-phosphates originated from the cleavage by a specific pyrophosphatase, of non-glycosylated cytosolic faced oligosaccharide-PP-Dol and chiefly the Man5GlcNAc2-PP-Dol. The Man5GlcNAc2-P, as the main product, is recovered in the cytosolic compartment and is further degraded to Man5GlcNAc1 by as for yet not depicted enzymes. In contrast, OS-Gn2 produced from hydrolysis of oligosaccharide-PP-Dol (presumably as a transfer reaction onto water) when the amount of protein acceptor is limiting, are generated into the lumen of rough endoplasmic reticulum (ER). They are further submitted to processing alpha-glucosidases and rough ER mannosidase and are (mainly as Man8GlcNAc2) exported into the cytosolic compartment. This material is further degraded into a single component, the Man5GlcNAc1: Man alpha 1-2Man alpha 1-2Man alpha 1-3 (Man alpha 1-6)Man beta 1-4GlcNAc by the sequential action of a cytosolic neutral chitobiase followed by cytosolic mannosidase. Furthermore, OS-Gn1 could have a dual origin: on the one hand, they originate from OS-Gn2 by the cytosolic degradation pathway indicated above; on the other hand, we will discuss a possible origin from the degradation or remodeling of newly synthesized glycoproteins. Considered first as a minor phenomenon, these observations have lead to the concept of intracellular oligomannoside trafficking, a process which results from more fundamental phenomena such as the control of the dolichol cycle, and the so-called quality-control of glycoprotein. In this review, we would like to describe the evolution of ideas on the origin, intracellular trafficking and putative roles of these oligomannosides released during the N-glycosylation process. We propose that these early stage 'glyco-deglyco' processes represent a way of control of N-glycosylation and of the fate of N-glycoproteins.

Effect of cell attachment and growth on the synthesis and fate of dolichol-linked oligosaccharides in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The inhibition of cellular processes in suspended anchorage-dependent Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines and their restoration upon attachment to a solid substrate has been used as a model to study the relationship between oligosaccharide-diphospho-dolichols and their metabolic products (glycoprotein and soluble oligosaccharide material, i.e. oligosaccharide phosphates and neutral oligosaccharides). Using metabolic labelling we demonstrated that suspended cells have a low incorporation rate into lipid intermediates and into glycoproteins. The oligosaccharide-lipid populations are mainly glucosylated and the neutral oligosaccharides have exclusively a chitobiosyl residue at their reducing end. In contrast, monolayer cells exhibit a high incorporation rate into lipid intermediates with a pattern dominated by two species containing either two or five mannose residues, and into glycoproteins with a pattern similar to the one observed for suspended cells (i.e. glucosylated species). In monolayer cells the neutral oligosaccharides possess either one or two GlcNAc residues at their reducing end. The variations in the nature and in the quantity of soluble oligosaccharide material as a function of the cell density reflects regulatory points in the synthesis of N-glycosyl proteins. The first regulatory point could be the control of the quantity of non-glucosylated oligosaccharide-lipids to be channelled toward the glucosylated lipid-donor pool. The level of this donor pool being constant, the oligosaccharide-transferase could utilize oligosaccharide-lipid donors at a constant rate by two different reactions: either transfer onto protein when acceptors are available, or transfer onto water generating neutral oligosaccharides possessing two GlcNAc residues at the reducing end. Another regulatory point would be the degradation of a part of neoglycoproteins leading to the release of neutral oligosaccharides possessing one GlcNAc residue at the reducing end.

Monoglucosylated oligomannosides are released during the degradation process of newly synthesized glycoproteins.

The Chinese hamster ovary mutant MI8-5 is known to synthesize Man(9)GlcNAc(2)-P-P-dolichol rather than the fully glucosylated lipid intermediate Glc(3)Man(9)GlcNAc(2)-P-P-dolichol. This nonglucosylated oligosaccharide lipid precursor is used as donor for N-glycosylation. In this paper we demonstrate that a significant part of the glycans bound to the newly synthesized glycoproteins in MI8-5 cells are monoglucosylated. The presence of monoglucosylated glycans on glycoproteins determines their binding to calnexin as part of the quality control machinery. Furthermore, we point out the presence of Glc(1)Man(5)GlcNAc(1) in the cytosol of MI8-5 cells. This indicates that part of the monoglucosylated glycoproteins can be directed toward a deglycosylation process that occurs in the cytosol. Besides studies on glycoprotein degradation based on the disappearance of protein moieties, MI8-5 cells can be used as a tool to elucidate the various step leading to glycoprotein degradation by studying the fate of the glycan moieties.

Release of oligomannoside-type glycans as a marker of the degradation of newly synthesized glycoproteins.

The N-glycosylation of proteins is accompanied by the release of soluble oligosaccharide material. Besides oligosaccharide phosphates originating from the cleavage of lipid intermediates, neutral free oligosaccharides represent the major part of this material and are heterogeneous depending on whether the reducing end has one or two N-acetylglucosamine residues. The present study focuses on the intracellular origin of neutral free oligosaccharides in a CHO cell line. Kinetic and pulse-chase experiments clearly indicate that oligosaccharides possessing a chitobiosyl unit are derived from oligosaccharide pyrophosphodolichol, whereas oligosaccharides possessing one N-acetyl-glucosamine residue are derived from newly synthesized glycoprotein. This relationship is confirmed by comparing the glycosylation pattern of lipid donors and glycoproteins with those of neutral free oligosaccharides under various incubation conditions (inhibition of protein synthesis, presence of processing inhibitors, presence or absence of glucose). Degradation of newly synthesized glycoprotein and formation of neutral oligosaccharides with one N-acetylglucosamine residue are inhibited at 16 degrees C but not affected by lysosomotropic agents such as leupeptin or NH4Cl. Together with the fact that the degradation of newly synthesized glycoproteins and the subsequent release of the glycan are recovered in permeabilized cells, these results suggest that this phenomenon occurs in the rough endoplasmic reticulum or in a closely related compartment.

Occurrence of a cytosolic neutral chitobiase activity involved in oligomannoside degradation: a study with Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells.

Neutral oligomannosides possessing one GlcNAc (OS-Gn1) and two GlcNAc (Os-Gn2) at the reducing end have been reported to be released during the N-glycosylation process in various biological models. To investigate which enzyme is responsible for OS-Gn1 formation, we used the Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cell line which exhibits neither lysosomal chitobiase nor endoglucosaminidase activities. However, these cells produced OS-Gn1 and we showed that a neutral chitobiase is responsible for the transformation of OS-Gn2 into OS-Gn1. Using streptolysin O-permeabilized MDBK cells, we demonstrated that this neutral chitobiase activity is located in the cytosolic compartment and is active on oligomannoside species released during the N-glycosylation process.

Cytosolic deglycosylation process of newly synthesized glycoproteins generates oligomannosides possessing one GlcNAc residue at the reducing end.

Recent studies on the mechanism of degradation of newly synthesized glycoproteins suggest the involvement of a retrotranslocation of the glycoprotein from the lumen of the rough endoplasmic reticulum into the cytosol, where a deglycosylation process takes place. In the studies reported here, we used a glycosylation mutant of Chinese hamster ovary cells that does not synthesize mannosylphosphoryldolichol and has an increased level of soluble oligomannosides originating from glycoprotein degradation. In the presence of anisomycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, we observed an accumulation of glucosylated oligosaccharide-lipid donors (Glc3Man5GlcNAc2-PP-Dol), which are the precursors of the soluble neutral oligosaccharide material. Inhibition of rough endoplasmic reticulum glucosidase(s) by castanospermine led to the formation of Glc3Man5GlcNAc2(OSGn2) (in which OSGn2 is an oligomannoside possessing two GlcNAc residues at its reducing end), which was then retained in the lumen of intracellular vesicles. Thus they were protected during an 8 h chase period from the action of cytosolic chitobiase, which is responsible for the conversion of OSGn2 to oligomannosides possessing one GlcNAc residue at the reducing end (OSGn1). In contrast, when protein synthesis was maintained in the presence of castanospermine, glucosylated oligomannosides (Glc1-3Man5GlcNAc1) were recovered in cytosol. Except for monoglucosylated Man5 species, which are potential substrates for luminal calnexin and calreticulin, the pattern of oligomannosides was similar to that observed on glycoproteins. The occurrence in the cytosol of glucosylated species with one GlcNAc residue at the reducing end implies that the deglycosylation process that generates glucosylated OSGn1 from glycoproteins occurs in the cytosol.

Catabolism of glycan moieties of lipid intermediates leads to a single Man5GlcNAc oligosaccharide isomer: a study with permeabilized CHO cells.

This paper presents kinetic and structural analyses of oligosaccharide material released during glycosylation in permeabilized Chinese hamster ovary cells incubated with sugar nucleotides. Permeabilized cells released 30 times more oligosaccharide material than metabolically labelled cells, normalized to the amount of labelled glycoprotein acceptor, making this an amenable system for study. Fifteen to forty per cent of the oligosaccharide material released by permeabilized cells was oligosaccharide-phosphate, depending on the nature and amount of the oligosaccharide-lipids synthesized. The oligosaccharide-phosphates released were recovered in the cytosol, and were exclusively Man2Glc-NAc2P and Man5GlcNAc2P, released from oligosaccharide-lipids thought to be facing the cytosol. In contrast, the structures found as neutral oligosaccharide material were similar to those attached to newly synthesized glycoproteins, indicating that the oligosaccharides were subjected to the same processing enzymes whether or not they were protein bound. Importantly, the kinetics of the transfer to protein and the release of free neutral oligosaccharide were parallel, suggesting that the same enzyme was responsible for both processes. Structural analyses demonstrated that the same Man5GlcNAc2 structure was transferred to protein and released as free oligosaccharide. Neutral oligosaccharides were found in both the cytosol and the pellet; however, oligosaccharides with one GlcNAc residue at the reducing end (OS-Gn1) were found exclusively in the supernate. The major neutral oligosaccharide produced after 2 h of metabolic labelling was Man5GlcNAc and it was found in the cytosol.

Oligomannosides or oligosaccharide-lipids as potential substrates for rat liver cytosolic alpha-D-mannosidase.

We have previously reported the substrate specificity of the cytosolic alpha-D-mannosidase purified from rat liver using Man9GlcNAc, i.e. Man alpha 1-2Man alpha 1-3(Man alpha 1-2Man alpha 1-6)Man alpha 1-6(Man alpha 1-2Man alpha 1-2Man alpha 1-3) Man beta 1-4G1cNAc, as substrate [Grard, Saint-Pol, Haeuw, Alonso, Wieruszeski, Strecker and Michalski (1994) Eur. J. Biochem. 223, 99-106]. Man9 G1cNAc is hydrolysed giving Man5GlcNAc, i.e. Man alpha 1-2 Man alpha 1-2Man alpha 1-3(Man alpha 1-6)Man beta 1-4GlcNAc, possessing the same structure as the oligosaccharide of the dolichol pathway formed in the cytosolic compartment during the biosynthesis of N-glycosylprotein glycans. We study here the activity of the purified cytosolic alpha-D-mannosidase towards the oligosaccharide-diphosphodolichol intermediates formed during the biosynthesis of N-glycans, and also towards soluble oligosaccharides released from the endoplasmic reticulum which are glucosylated or not and possessing at their reducing end either a single N-acetylglucosamine residue or a di-N-acetylchitobiose sequence. We demonstrate that (1) dolichol pyrophosphate oligosaccharide substrates are poorly hydrolysed by the cytosolic alpha-D-mannosidase; (2) oligosaccharides with a terminal reducing di-N-acetylchitobiose sequence are not hydrolysed at all; (3) soluble oligosaccharides bearing a single reducing N-acetylglucosamine are the real substrates for the enzyme. These results suggest a role for alpha-D-mannosidase in the catabolism of glycans released from the endoplasmic reticulum rather than in the regulation of the biosynthesis of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides.