O-fucosylated glycoproteins form assemblies in close proximity to the nuclear pore complexes of Toxoplasma gondii.

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that causes disseminated infections in fetuses and immunocompromised individuals. Although gene regulation is important for parasite differentiation and pathogenesis, little is known about protein organization in the nucleus. Here we show that the fucose-binding Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL) binds to numerous punctate structures in the nuclei of tachyzoites, bradyzoites, and sporozoites but not oocysts. AAL also binds to Hammondia and Neospora nuclei but not to more distantly related apicomplexans. Analyses of the AAL-enriched fraction indicate that AAL binds O-linked fucose added to Ser/Thr residues present in or adjacent to Ser-rich domains (SRDs). Sixty-nine Ser-rich proteins were reproducibly enriched with AAL, including nucleoporins, mRNA-processing enzymes, and cell-signaling proteins. Two endogenous SRDs-containing proteins and an SRD-YFP fusion localize with AAL to the nuclear membrane. Superresolution microscopy showed that the majority of the AAL signal localizes in proximity to nuclear pore complexes. Host cells modify secreted proteins with O-fucose; here we describe the O-fucosylation pathway in the nucleocytosol of a eukaryote. Furthermore, these results suggest O-fucosylation is a mechanism by which proteins involved in gene expression accumulate near the NPC.

Effects of N-glycan precursor length diversity on quality control of protein folding and on protein glycosylation.

Asparagine-linked glycans (N-glycans) of medically important protists have much to tell us about the evolution of N-glycosylation and of N-glycan-dependent quality control (N-glycan QC) of protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum. While host N-glycans are built upon a dolichol-pyrophosphate-linked precursor with 14 sugars (Glc3Man9GlcNAc2), protist N-glycan precursors vary from Glc3Man9GlcNAc2 (Acanthamoeba) to Man9GlcNAc2 (Trypanosoma) to Glc3Man5GlcNAc2 (Toxoplasma) to Man5GlcNAc2 (Entamoeba, Trichomonas, and Eimeria) to GlcNAc2 (Plasmodium and Giardia) to zero (Theileria). As related organisms have differing N-glycan lengths (e.g. Toxoplasma, Eimeria, Plasmodium, and Theileria), the present N-glycan variation is based upon secondary loss of Alg genes, which encode enzymes that add sugars to the N-glycan precursor. An N-glycan precursor with Man5GlcNAc2 is necessary but not sufficient for N-glycan QC, which is predicted by the presence of the UDP-glucose:glucosyltransferase (UGGT) plus calreticulin and/or calnexin. As many parasites lack glucose in their N-glycan precursor, UGGT product may be identified by inhibition of glucosidase II. The presence of an armless calnexin in Toxoplasma suggests secondary loss of N-glycan QC from coccidia. Positive selection for N-glycan sites occurs in secreted proteins of organisms with N-glycan QC and is based upon an increased likelihood of threonine but not serine in the +2 position versus asparagine. In contrast, there appears to be selection against N-glycan length in Plasmodium and N-glycan site density in Toxoplasma. Finally, there is suggestive evidence for N-glycan-dependent ERAD in Trichomonas, which glycosylates and degrades the exogenous reporter mutant carboxypeptidase Y (CPY*).

The glycosylation-dependent interaction of perlecan core protein with LDL: implications for atherosclerosis.

Perlecan is a major heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycan in the arterial wall. Previous studies have linked it to atherosclerosis. Perlecan contains a core protein and three HS side chains. Its core protein has five domains (DI-DV) with disparate structures and DII is highly homologous to the ligand-binding portion of LDL receptor (LDLR). The functional significance of this domain has been unknown. Here, we show that perlecan DII interacts with LDL. Importantly, the interaction largely relies on O-linked glycans that are only present in the secreted DII. Among the five repeat units of DII, most of the glycosylation sites are from the second unit, which is highly divergent and rich in serine and threonine, but has no cysteine residues. Interestingly, most of the glycans are capped by the negatively charged sialic acids, which are critical for LDL binding. We further demonstrate an additive effect of HS and DII on LDL binding. Unlike LDLR, which directs LDL uptake through endocytosis, this study uncovers a novel feature of the perlecan LDLR-like DII in receptor-mediated lipoprotein retention, which depends on its glycosylation. Thus, perlecan glycosylation may play a role in the early LDL retention during the development of atherosclerosis.

Strategies to discover the structural components of cyst and oocyst walls.

Cysts of Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica and oocysts of Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidium parvum are the infectious and sometimes diagnostic forms of these parasites. To discover the structural components of cyst and oocyst walls, we have developed strategies based upon a few simple assumptions. Briefly, the most abundant wall proteins are identified by monoclonal antibodies or mass spectrometry. Structural components include a sugar polysaccharide (chitin for Entamoeba, ß-1,3-linked glucose for Toxoplasma, and ß-1,3-linked GalNAc for Giardia) and/or acid-fast lipids (Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium). Because Entamoeba cysts and Toxoplasma oocysts are difficult to obtain, studies of walls of nonhuman pathogens (E. invadens and Eimeria, respectively) accelerate discovery. Biochemical methods to dissect fungal walls work well for cyst and oocyst walls, although the results are often unexpected. For example, echinocandins, which inhibit glucan synthases and kill fungi, arrest the development of oocyst walls and block their release into the intestinal lumen. Candida walls are coated with mannans, while Entamoeba cysts are coated in a dextran-like glucose polymer. Models for cyst and oocyst walls derive from their structural components and organization within the wall. Cyst walls are composed of chitin fibrils and lectins that bind chitin (Entamoeba) or fibrils of the ß-1,3-GalNAc polymer and lectins that bind the polymer (Giardia). Oocyst walls of Toxoplasma have two distinct layers that resemble those of fungi (ß-1,3-glucan in the inner layer) or mycobacteria (acid-fast lipids in the outer layer). Oocyst walls of Cryptosporidium have a rigid bilayer of acid-fast lipids and inner layer of oocyst wall proteins.

Giardia cyst wall protein 1 is a lectin that binds to curled fibrils of the GalNAc homopolymer.

The infectious and diagnostic stage of Giardia lamblia (also known as G. intestinalis or G. duodenalis) is the cyst. The Giardia cyst wall contains fibrils of a unique beta-1,3-linked N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) homopolymer and at least three cyst wall proteins (CWPs) composed of Leu-rich repeats (CWP(LRR)) and a C-terminal conserved Cys-rich region (CWP(CRR)). Our goals were to dissect the structure of the cyst wall and determine how it is disrupted during excystation. The intact Giardia cyst wall is thin (approximately 400 nm), easily fractured by sonication, and impermeable to small molecules. Curled fibrils of the GalNAc homopolymer are restricted to a narrow plane and are coated with linear arrays of oval-shaped protein complex. In contrast, cyst walls of Giardia treated with hot alkali to deproteinate fibrils of the GalNAc homopolymer are thick (approximately 1.2 microm), resistant to sonication, and permeable. The deproteinated GalNAc homopolymer, which forms a loose lattice of curled fibrils, is bound by native CWP1 and CWP2, as well as by maltose-binding protein (MBP)-fusions containing the full-length CWP1 or CWP1(LRR). In contrast, neither MBP alone nor MBP fused to CWP1(CRR) bind to the GalNAc homopolymer. Recombinant CWP1 binds to the GalNAc homopolymer within secretory vesicles of Giardia encysting in vitro. Fibrils of the GalNAc homopolymer are exposed during excystation or by treatment of heat-killed cysts with chymotrypsin, while deproteinated fibrils of the GalNAc homopolymer are degraded by extracts of Giardia cysts but not trophozoites. These results show the Leu-rich repeat domain of CWP1 is a lectin that binds to curled fibrils of the GalNAc homopolymer. During excystation, host and Giardia proteases appear to degrade bound CWPs, exposing fibrils of the GalNAc homopolymer that are digested by a stage-specific glycohydrolase.

Darwinian selection for sites of Asn-linked glycosylation in phylogenetically disparate eukaryotes and viruses.

Numerous protists and rare fungi have truncated Asn-linked glycan precursors and lack N-glycan-dependent quality control (QC) systems for glycoprotein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum. Here, we show that the abundance of sequons (NXT or NXS), which are sites for N-glycosylation of secreted and membrane proteins, varies by more than a factor of 4 among phylogenetically diverse eukaryotes, based on a few variables. There is positive correlation between the density of sequons and the AT content of coding regions, although no causality can be inferred. In contrast, there appears to be Darwinian selection for sequons containing Thr, but not Ser, in eukaryotes that have N-glycan-dependent QC systems. Selection for sequons with Thr, which nearly doubles the sequon density in human secreted and membrane proteins, occurs by an increased conditional probability that Asn and Thr are present in sequons rather than elsewhere. Increasing sequon densities of the hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza viruses A/H3N2 and A/H1N1 during the past few decades of human infection also result from an increased conditional probability that Asn, Thr, and Ser are present in sequons rather than elsewhere. In contrast, there is no selection on sequons by this mechanism in HA of A/H5N1 or 2009 A/H1N1 (Swine flu). Very strong selection for sequons with both Thr and Ser in glycoprotein of M(r) 120,000 (gp120) of HIV and related retroviruses results from this same mechanism, as well as amino acid composition bias and increases in AT content. We conclude that there is Darwinian selection for sequons in phylogenetically disparate eukaryotes and viruses.

Evidence for a "wattle and daub" model of the cyst wall of entamoeba.

The cyst wall of Entamoeba invadens (Ei), a model for the human pathogen Entamoeba histolytica, is composed of fibrils of chitin and three chitin-binding lectins called Jacob, Jessie3, and chitinase. Here we show chitin, which was detected with wheat germ agglutinin, is made in secretory vesicles prior to its deposition on the surface of encysting Ei. Jacob lectins, which have tandemly arrayed chitin-binding domains (CBDs), and chitinase, which has an N-terminal CBD, were each made early during encystation. These results are consistent with their hypothesized roles in cross-linking chitin fibrils (Jacob lectins) and remodeling the cyst wall (chitinase). Jessie3 lectins likely form the mortar or daub of the cyst wall, because 1) Jessie lectins were made late during encystation; 2) the addition to Jessie lectins to the cyst wall correlated with a marked decrease in the permeability of cysts to nucleic acid stains (DAPI) and actin-binding heptapeptide (phalloidin); and 3) recombinant Jessie lectins, expressed as a maltose-binding proteins in the periplasm of Escherichia coli, caused transformed bacteria to agglutinate in suspension and form a hard pellet that did not dissociate after centrifugation. Jessie3 appeared as linear forms and rosettes by negative staining of secreted recombinant proteins. These findings provide evidence for a "wattle and daub" model of the Entamoeba cyst wall, where the wattle or sticks (chitin fibrils likely cross-linked by Jacob lectins) is constructed prior to the addition of the mortar or daub (Jessie3 lectins).

Evidence for mucin-like glycoproteins that tether sporozoites of Cryptosporidium parvum to the inner surface of the oocyst wall.

Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts, which are spread by the fecal-oral route, have a single, multilayered wall that surrounds four sporozoites, the invasive form. The C. parvum oocyst wall is labeled by the Maclura pomifera agglutinin (MPA), which binds GalNAc, and the C. parvum wall contains at least two unique proteins (Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein 1 [COWP1] and COWP8) identified by monoclonal antibodies. C. parvum sporozoites have on their surface multiple mucin-like glycoproteins with Ser- and Thr-rich repeats (e.g., gp40 and gp900). Here we used ruthenium red staining and electron microscopy to demonstrate fibrils, which appear to attach or tether sporozoites to the inner surface of the C. parvum oocyst wall. When disconnected from the sporozoites, some of these fibrillar tethers appear to collapse into globules on the inner surface of oocyst walls. The most abundant proteins of purified oocyst walls, which are missing the tethers and outer veil, were COWP1, COWP6, and COWP8, while COWP2, COWP3, and COWP4 were present in trace amounts. In contrast, MPA affinity-purified glycoproteins from C. parvum oocysts, which are composed of walls and sporozoites, included previously identified mucin-like glycoproteins, a GalNAc-binding lectin, a Ser protease inhibitor, and several novel glycoproteins (C. parvum MPA affinity-purified glycoprotein 1 [CpMPA1] to CpMPA4). By immunoelectron microscopy (immuno-EM), we localized mucin-like glycoproteins (gp40 and gp900) to the ruthenium red-stained fibrils on the inner surface wall of oocysts, while antibodies to the O-linked GalNAc on glycoproteins were localized to the globules. These results suggest that mucin-like glycoproteins, which are associated with the sporozoite surface, may contribute to fibrils and/or globules that tether sporozoites to the inner surface of oocyst walls.

The antiretroviral lectin cyanovirin-N targets well-known and novel targets on the surface of Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites.

Entamoeba histolytica, the protist that causes amebic dysentery and liver abscess, has a truncated Asn-linked glycan (N-glycan) precursor composed of seven sugars (Man(5)GlcNAc(2)). Here, we show that glycoproteins with unmodified N-glycans are aggregated and capped on the surface of E. histolytica trophozoites by the antiretroviral lectin cyanovirin-N and then replenished from large intracellular pools. Cyanovirin-N cocaps the Gal/GalNAc adherence lectin, as well as glycoproteins containing O-phosphodiester-linked glycans recognized by an anti-proteophosphoglycan monoclonal antibody. Cyanovirin-N inhibits phagocytosis by E. histolytica trophozoites of mucin-coated beads, a surrogate assay for amebic virulence. For technical reasons, we used the plant lectin concanavalin A rather than cyanovirin-N to enrich secreted and membrane proteins for mass spectrometric identification. E. histolytica glycoproteins with occupied N-glycan sites include Gal/GalNAc lectins, proteases, and 17 previously hypothetical proteins. The latter glycoproteins, as well as 50 previously hypothetical proteins enriched by concanavalin A, may be vaccine targets as they are abundant and unique. In summary, the antiretroviral lectin cyanovirin-N binds to well-known and novel targets on the surface of E. histolytica that are rapidly replenished from large intracellular pools.

Suggestive evidence for Darwinian Selection against asparagine-linked glycans of Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii.

We are interested in asparagine-linked glycans (N-glycans) of Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii, because their N-glycan structures have been controversial and because we hypothesize that there might be selection against N-glycans in nucleus-encoded proteins that must pass through the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) prior to threading into the apicoplast. In support of our hypothesis, we observed the following. First, in protists with apicoplasts, there is extensive secondary loss of Alg enzymes that make lipid-linked precursors to N-glycans. Theileria makes no N-glycans, and Plasmodium makes a severely truncated N-glycan precursor composed of one or two GlcNAc residues. Second, secreted proteins of Toxoplasma, which uses its own 10-sugar precursor (Glc(3)Man(5)GlcNAc(2)) and the host 14-sugar precursor (Glc(3)Man(9)GlcNAc(2)) to make N-glycans, have very few sites for N glycosylation, and there is additional selection against N-glycan sites in its apicoplast-targeted proteins. Third, while the GlcNAc-binding Griffonia simplicifolia lectin II labels ER, rhoptries, and surface of plasmodia, there is no apicoplast labeling. Similarly, the antiretroviral lectin cyanovirin-N, which binds to N-glycans of Toxoplasma, labels ER and rhoptries, but there is no apicoplast labeling. We conclude that possible selection against N-glycans in protists with apicoplasts occurs by eliminating N-glycans (Theileria), reducing their length (Plasmodium), or reducing the number of N-glycan sites (Toxoplasma). In addition, occupation of N-glycan sites is markedly reduced in apicoplast proteins versus some secretory proteins in both Plasmodium and Toxoplasma.

A deeply divergent phosphoglucomutase (PGM) of Giardia lamblia has both PGM and phosphomannomutase activities.

Giardia lamblia, which is an important parasitic cause of diarrhea, uses activated forms of glucose to make glycogen and activated forms of mannose to make glycophosphosphoinositol anchors. A necessary step for glucose activation is isomerization of glucose-6-phosphate to glucose-1-phosphate by a phosphoglucomutase (PGM). Similarly, a phosphomannomutase (PMM) converts mannose-6-phosphate to mannose-1-phosphate. While whole genome sequences of Giardia predict two PGM candidates, no PMM candidate is present. The hypothesis tested here is that at least one of the two Giardia PGM candidates has both PGM and PMM activity, as has been described for bacterial PGM orthologs. Nondenaturing gels showed that Giardia has two proteins with PGM activity, one of which also has PMM activity. Phylogenetic analyses showed that one of the two Giardia PGM candidates (Gl-PGM1) shares recent common ancestry with other eukaryotic PGMs, while the other Giardia PGM candidate (Gl-PGM2) is deeply divergent. Both Gl-PGM1 and Gl-PGM2 rescue a Saccharomyces cerevisiae pgm1Delta/pgm2Delta double deletion strain, while only Gl-PGM2 rescues a temperature-sensitive PMM mutant of S. cerevisiae (sec53-ts). Recombinant Gl-PGM1 has PGM activity only, whereas Gl-PGM2 has both PGM and PMM activities. We conclude that Gl-PGM1 behaves as a conventional eukaryotic PGM, while Gl-PGM2 is a novel eukaryotic PGM that also has PMM activity.

Molecular characterization of the cis-prenyltransferase of Giardia lamblia.

Giardia lamblia, the protist that causes diarrhea, makes an Asn-linked-glycan (N-glycan) precursor that contains just two sugars (GlcNAc(2)) attached by a pyrophosphate linkage to a polyprenol lipid. Because the candidate cis-prenyltransferase of Giardia appears to be more similar to bacterial enzymes than to those of most eukaryotes and because Giardia is missing a candidate dolichol kinase (ortholog to Saccharomyces cerevisiae SEC59 gene product), we wondered how Giardia synthesizes dolichol phosphate (Dol-P), which is used to make N-glycans and glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors. Here we show that cultured Giardia makes an unsaturated polyprenyl pyrophosphate (dehydrodolichol), which contains 11 and 12 isoprene units and is reduced to dolichol. The Giardia cis-prenyltransferase that we have named Gl-UPPS because the enzyme primarily synthesizes undecaprenol pyrophosphate is phylogenetically related to those of bacteria and Trypanosoma rather than to those of other protists, metazoans and fungi. In transformed Saccharomyces, the Giardia cis-prenyltransferase also makes a polyprenol containing 11 and 12 isoprene units and supports normal growth, N-glycosylation and GPI anchor synthesis of a rer2Delta, srt1Delta double-deletion mutant. Finally, despite the absence of an ortholog to SEC59, Giardia has cytidine triphosphate-dependent dolichol kinase activity. These results suggest that the synthetic pathway for Dol-P is conserved in Giardia, even if some of the important enzymes are different from those of higher eukaryotes or remain unidentified.

Molecular characterization of nucleocytosolic O-GlcNAc transferases of Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum.

O-Linked N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (OGT) catalyzes the transfer of a single GlcNAc to the Ser or Thr of nucleocytoplasmic proteins. OGT activity, which may compete with that of kinases, is involved in signaling in animals and plants, and abnormalities in OGT activities have been associated with type 2 diabetes. Here, we show that ogt genes that predict enzymes with characteristic tetratricopeptide repeats and a spindly domain are present in some protists (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma, and Dictyostelium) but are absent from the majority of protists examined (e.g., Plasmodium, Trypanosoma, Entamoeba, and Trichomonas). Similarly, ogt genes are present in some fungi but are absent from numerous other fungi, suggesting that secondary loss is an important contributor to the evolution of ogt genes. Nucleocytosolic extracts of Giardia and Cryptosporidium show OGT activity, and recombinant Giardia and Cryptosporidium OGTs are active in yeast and bacteria, respectively. These results suggest the possibility that O-GlcNAc modification of nucleocytosolic proteins also has function(s) in simple eukaryotes.

Changes in the N-glycome, glycoproteins with Asn-linked glycans, of Giardia lamblia with differentiation from trophozoites to cysts.

Giardia lamblia is present in the intestinal lumen as a binucleate, flagellated trophozoite or a quadranucleate, immotile cyst. Here we used the plant lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), which binds to the disaccharide di-N-acetyl-chitobiose (GlcNAc(2)), which is the truncated Asn-linked glycan (N-glycan) of Giardia, to affinity purify the N-glycomes (glycoproteins with N-glycans) of trophozoites and cysts. Fluorescent WGA bound to the perinuclear membranes, peripheral acidified vesicles, and plasma membranes of trophozoites. In contrast, WGA bound strongly to membranes adjacent to the wall of Giardia cysts and less strongly to the endoplasmic reticulum and acidified vesicles. WGA lectin-affinity chromatography dramatically enriched secreted and membrane proteins of Giardia, including proteases and acid phosphatases that retain their activities. With mass spectroscopy, we identified 91 glycopeptides with N-glycans and 194 trophozoite-secreted and membrane proteins, including 42 unique proteins. The Giardia oligosaccharyltransferase, which contains a single catalytic subunit, preferred N glycosylation sites with Thr to those with Ser in vivo but had no preference for flanking amino acids. The most-abundant glycoproteins in the N-glycome of trophozoites were lysosomal enzymes, folding-associated proteins, and unique transmembrane proteins with Cys-, Leu-, or Gly-rich repeats. We identified 157 secreted and membrane proteins in the Giardia cysts, including 20 unique proteins. Compared to trophozoites, cysts were enriched in Gly-rich repeat transmembrane proteins, cyst wall proteins, and unique membrane proteins but had relatively fewer Leu-rich repeat proteins, folding-associated proteins, and unique secreted proteins. In summary, there are major changes in the Giardia N-glycome with the differentiation from trophozoites to cysts.

Dolichyl-phosphate-glucose is used to make O-glycans on glycoproteins of Trichomonas vaginalis.

Trichomonas vaginalis, the protist that causes vaginal itching, has a huge genome with numerous gene duplications. Recently we found that Trichomonas has numerous genes encoding putative dolichyl-phosphate-glucose (Dol-P-Glc) synthases (encoded by ALG5 genes) despite the fact that Trichomonas lacks the glycosyltransferases (encoded by ALG6, ALG8, and ALG10 genes) that use Dol-P-Glc to glucosylate dolichyl-PP-linked glycans. In addition, Trichomonas does not have a canonical DPM1 gene, encoding a dolichyl-P-mannose (Dol-P-Man) synthase. Here we show Trichomonas membranes have roughly 300 times the Dol-P-Glc synthase activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae membranes and about one-fifth the Dol-P-Man synthase activity of Saccharomyces membranes. Endogenous Dol-P-hexoses of Trichomonas are relatively abundant and contain 16 isoprene units. Five paralogous Trichomonas ALG5 gene products have Dol-P-Glc synthase activity when expressed as recombinant proteins, and these Trichomonas Alg5s correct a carboxypeptidase N glycosylation defect in a Saccharomyces alg5 mutant in vivo. A recombinant Trichomonas Dpm1, which is deeply divergent in its sequence, has Dol-P-Man synthase activity. When radiolabeled Dol-P-Glc is incubated with Trichomonas membranes, Glc is incorporated into reducing and nonreducing sugars of O-glycans of endogenous glycoproteins. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of Dol-P-Glc as a sugar donor for O-glycans on glycoproteins.

Use of Giardia, which appears to have a single nucleotide-sugar transporter for UDP-GlcNAc, to identify the UDP-Glc transporter of Entamoeba.

Nucleotide-sugar transporters (NSTs) transport activated sugars (e.g. UDP-GlcNAc) from the cytosol to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum or Golgi apparatus where they are used to make glycoproteins and glycolipids. UDP-Glc is an important component of the N-glycan-dependent quality control (QC) system for protein folding. Because Entamoeba has this QC system while Giardia does not, we hypothesized that transfected Giardia might be used to identify the UDP-Glc transporter of Entamoeba. Here we show Giardia membranes transport UDP-GlcNAc and have apyrases, which hydrolyze nucleoside-diphosphates to make the antiporter nucleoside-monophosphate. The only NST of Giardia (GlNst), which we could identify, transports UDP-GlcNAc in transfected Saccharomyces and is present in perinuclear and peripheral vesicles and increases in expression during encystation. Entamoeba membranes transport three nucleotide-sugars (UDP-Gal, UDP-GlcNAc, and UDP-Glc), and Entamoeba has three NSTs, one of which has been shown previously to transport UDP-Gal (EhNst1). Here we show recombinant EhNst2 transports UDP-Glc in transfected Giardia, while recombinant EhNst3 transports UDP-GlcNAc in transfected Saccharomyces. In summary, all three NSTs of Entamoeba and the single NST of Giardia have been molecularly characterized, and transfected Giardia provides a new system for testing heterologous UDP-Glc transporters.

The cyst wall of Entamoeba invadens contains chitosan (deacetylated chitin).

The cyst wall of Entamoeba invadens (Ei), a model for the human pathogen Entamoeba histolytica, contains chitin, which is a homopolymer of beta-1, 4-linked N-acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc). In fungi and in bacteria that make nodulation factors, chitin deacetylases make chitosan, which is a mixture of GlcNAc and glucosamine and so has a positive charge. The activity of an Ei chitin deacetylase was revealed by a 3-4-fold increase in released GlcNAc when deproteinated cyst walls were chemically acetylated prior to treatment with a commerical chitinase. Because this chitinase releases GlcNAc but not GlcN, increases in released GlcNAc after acetylation suggested the presence of chitosan in Ei cyst walls. Five putative Ei and Eh chitin deacetylase genes resembled those of fungi and bacteria. A predicted Eh chitin deacetylase matched closely the three-dimensional structure of a Bacillus subtilis peptiodglycan deacetylase. A recombinant Eh chitin deacetylase, expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, deacetylated chitooligosaccharides in vitro. These results are consistent with the idea that Ei chitin deacetylases modify chitin to produce chitosan in the Ei cyst wall.

The Caenorhabditis elegans sqv genes and functions of proteoglycans in development.

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the vulva is a simple tubular structure linking the gonads with the external cuticle. In this review we summarize knowledge of inter- and intracellular signaling during vulval development and of the genes required for vulval invagination. Mutants of one set of these genes, the sqv genes, have a normal number of vulval precursor cells (VPCs) with an unperturbed cell lineage but the invagination space, normally a tube, is either collapsed or absent. We review evidence that the sqv genes are involved in glycosaminoglycan synthesis and speculate on ways in which defective glycosaminoglycan formation might lead to collapse of the vulval structure.

Anti-Retroviral Lectins Have Modest Effects on Adherence of Trichomonas vaginalis to Epithelial Cells In Vitro and on Recovery of Tritrichomonas foetus in a Mouse Vaginal Model.

Trichomonas vaginalis causes vaginitis and increases the risk of HIV transmission by heterosexual sex, while Tritrichomonas foetus causes premature abortion in cattle. Our goals were to determine the effects, if any, of anti-retroviral lectins, which are designed to prevent heterosexual transmission of HIV, on adherence of Trichomonas to ectocervical cells and on Tritrichomonas infections in a mouse model. We show that Trichomonas Asn-linked glycans (N-glycans), like those of HIV, bind the mannose-binding lectin (MBL) that is part of the innate immune system. N-glycans of Trichomonas and Tritrichomonas bind anti-retroviral lectins (cyanovirin-N and griffithsin) and the 2G12 monoclonal antibody, each of which binds HIV N-glycans. Binding of cyanovirin-N appears to be independent of susceptibility to metronidazole, the major drug used to treat Trichomonas. Anti-retroviral lectins, MBL, and galectin-1 cause Trichomonas to self-aggregate and precipitate. The anti-retroviral lectins also increase adherence of ricin-resistant mutants, which are less adherent than parent cells, to ectocervical cell monolayers and to organotypic EpiVaginal tissue cells. Topical application of either anti-retroviral lectins or yeast N-glycans decreases by 40 to 70% the recovery of Tritrichomonas from the mouse vagina. These results, which are explained by a few simple models, suggest that the anti-retroviral lectins have a modest potential for preventing or treating human infections with Trichomonas.

Evidence for a structural role for acid-fast lipids in oocyst walls of Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma, and Eimeria.

UNLABELLED: Coccidia are protozoan parasites that cause significant human disease and are of major agricultural importance. Cryptosporidium spp. cause diarrhea in humans and animals, while Toxoplasma causes disseminated infections in fetuses and untreated AIDS patients. Eimeria is a major pathogen of commercial chickens. Oocysts, which are the infectious form of Cryptosporidium and Eimeria and one of two infectious forms of Toxoplasma (the other is tissue cysts in undercooked meat), have a multilayered wall. Recently we showed that the inner layer of the oocyst walls of Toxoplasma and Eimeria is a porous scaffold of fibers of ß-1,3-glucan, which are also present in fungal walls but are absent from Cryptosporidium oocyst walls. Here we present evidence for a structural role for lipids in the oocyst walls of Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma, and Eimeria. Briefly, oocyst walls of each organism label with acid-fast stains that bind to lipids in the walls of mycobacteria. Polyketide synthases similar to those that make mycobacterial wall lipids are abundant in oocysts of Toxoplasma and Eimeria and are predicted in Cryptosporidium. The outer layer of oocyst wall of Eimeria and the entire oocyst wall of Cryptosporidium are dissolved by organic solvents. Oocyst wall lipids are complex mixtures of triglycerides, some of which contain polyhydroxy fatty acyl chains like those present in plant cutin or elongated fatty acyl chains like mycolic acids. We propose a two-layered model of the oocyst wall (glucan and acid-fast lipids) that resembles the two-layered walls of mycobacteria (peptidoglycan and acid-fast lipids) and plants (cellulose and cutin). IMPORTANCE: Oocysts, which are essential for the fecal-oral spread of coccidia, have a wall that is thought responsible for their survival in the environment and for their transit through the stomach and small intestine. While oocyst walls of Toxoplasma and Eimeria are strengthened by a porous scaffold of fibrils of ß-1,3-glucan and by proteins cross-linked by dityrosines, both are absent from walls of Cryptosporidium. We show here that all oocyst walls are acid fast, have a rigid bilayer, dissolve in organic solvents, and contain a complex set of triglycerides rich in polyhydroxy and long fatty acyl chains that might be synthesized by an abundant polyketide synthase. These results suggest the possibility that coccidia build a waxy coat of acid-fast lipids in the oocyst wall that makes them resistant to environmental stress.