Glycomic analysis of human mast cells, eosinophils and basophils.

In allergic diseases such as asthma, eosinophils, basophils and mast cells, through release of preformed and newly generated mediators, granule proteins and cytokines, are recognized as key effector cells. While their surface protein phenotypes, mediator release profiles, ontogeny, cell trafficking and genomes have been generally explored and compared, there has yet to be any thorough analysis and comparison of their glycomes. Such studies are critical to understand the contribution of carbohydrates to the induction and regulation of allergic inflammatory responses and are now possible using improved technologies for detecting and characterizing cell-derived glycans. We thus report here the application of high-sensitivity mass spectrometric-based glycomics methodologies to the analysis of N-linked glycans derived from isolated populations of human mast cells, eosinophils and basophils. The samples were subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) screening analyses and MALDI-TOF/TOF sequencing studies. Results reveal substantive quantities of terminal N-acetylglucosamine containing structures in both the eosinophil and the basophil samples, whereas mast cells display greater relative quantities of sialylated terminal epitopes. For the first time, we characterize the cell surface glycan structures of principal allergic effector cells, which by interaction with glycan-binding proteins (e.g. lectins) have the possibility to dictate cellular functions, and might thus have important implications for the pathogenesis of inflammatory and allergic diseases.

Mass spectrometric analysis of mutant mice.

Mass spectrometry (MS) has proven to be the preeminent tool for the rapid, high-sensitivity analysis of the primary structure of glycans derived from diverse biological sources including cells, fluids, secretions, tissues, and organs. These analyses are anchored by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis of permethylated derivatives of glycan pools released from the samples, to produce glycomic mass fingerprints. The application of complimentary techniques, such as chemical and enzymatic digestions, GC-MS linkage analysis, and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) utilizing both electrospray (ES) and MALDI-TOF/TOF, together with bioinformatic tools allows the elucidation of incrementally more detailed structural information from the sample(s) of interest. The mouse as a model organism offers many advantages in the study of human biology, health, and disease; it is a mammal, shares 99% genetic homology with humans and its genome supports targeted mutagenesis in specific genes to produce knockouts efficiently and precisely. Glycomic analyses of tissues and organs from mice genetically deficient in one or more glycosylation gene and comparison with data collected from wild-type samples enables the facile identification of changes and perturbations within the glycome. The Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) has been applying such MS-based glycomic analyses to a range of murine tissues from both wild-type and glycosylation-knockout mice in order to provide a repository of structural data for the glycobiology community. In this chapter, we describe in detail the methodologies used to prepare, derivatize, purify, and analyze glycan pools from mouse organs and tissues by MS. We also present a summary of data produced from the CFG systematic structural analysis of wild-type and knockout mouse tissues, together with a detailed example of a glycomic analysis of the Mgat4a knockout mouse.

Glycomics profiling of Chinese hamster ovary cell glycosylation mutants reveals N-glycans of a novel size and complexity.

Identifying biological roles for mammalian glycans and the pathways by which they are synthesized has been greatly facilitated by investigations of glycosylation mutants of cultured cell lines and model organisms. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) glycosylation mutants isolated on the basis of their lectin resistance have been particularly useful for glycosylation engineering of recombinant glycoproteins. To further enhance the application of these mutants, and to obtain insights into the effects of altering one specific glycosyltransferase or glycosylation activity on the overall expression of cellular glycans, an analysis of the N-glycans and major O-glycans of a panel of CHO mutants was performed using glycomic analyses anchored by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight/time of flight mass spectrometry. We report here the complement of the major N-glycans and O-glycans present in nine distinct CHO glycosylation mutants. Parent CHO cells grown in monolayer versus suspension culture had similar profiles of N- and O-GalNAc glycans, although the profiles of glycosylation mutants Lec1, Lec2, Lec3.2.8.1, Lec4, LEC10, LEC11, LEC12, Lec13, and LEC30 were consistent with available genetic and biochemical data. However, the complexity of the range of N-glycans observed was unexpected. Several of the complex N-glycan profiles contained structures of m/z approximately 13,000 representing complex N-glycans with a total of 26 N-acetyllactosamine (Gal beta1-4GlcNAc)(n) units. Importantly, the LEC11, LEC12, and LEC30 CHO mutants exhibited unique complements of fucosylated complex N-glycans terminating in Lewis(x) and sialyl-Lewis(x) determinants. This analysis reveals the larger-than-expected complexity of N-glycans in CHO cell mutants that may be used in a broad variety of functional glycomics studies and for making recombinant glycoproteins.

Regulated and aberrant glycosylation modulate cardiac electrical signaling.

Millions afflicted with Chagas disease and other disorders of aberrant glycosylation suffer symptoms consistent with altered electrical signaling such as arrhythmias, decreased neuronal conduction velocity, and hyporeflexia. Cardiac, neuronal, and muscle electrical signaling is controlled and modulated by changes in voltage-gated ion channel activity that occur through physiological and pathological processes such as development, epilepsy, and cardiomyopathy. Glycans attached to ion channels alter channel activity through isoform-specific mechanisms. Here we show that regulated and aberrant glycosylation modulate cardiac ion channel activity and electrical signaling through a cell-specific mechanism. Data show that nearly half of 239 glycosylation-associated genes (glycogenes) were significantly differentially expressed among neonatal and adult atrial and ventricular myocytes. The N-glycan structures produced among cardiomyocyte types were markedly variable. Thus, the cardiac glycome, defined as the complete set of glycan structures produced in the heart, is remodeled. One glycogene, ST8sia2, a polysialyltransferase, is expressed only in the neonatal atrium. Cardiomyocyte electrical signaling was compared in control and ST8sia2((-/-)) neonatal atrial and ventricular myocytes. Action potential waveforms and gating of less sialylated voltage-gated Na+ channels were altered consistently in ST8sia2((-/-)) atrial myocytes. ST8sia2 expression had no effect on ventricular myocyte excitability. Thus, the regulated (between atrium and ventricle) and aberrant (knockout in the neonatal atrium) expression of a single glycogene was sufficient to modulate cardiomyocyte excitability. A mechanism is described by which cardiac function is controlled and modulated through physiological and pathological processes that involve regulated and aberrant glycosylation.

Structural characterisation of neutrophil glycans by ultra sensitive mass spectrometric glycomics methodology.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in humans and play a vital role in several aspects of the immune response. Numerous reports have implicated neutrophil glycosylation as an important factor in mediating these interactions. We report here the application of high sensitivity glycomics methodologies, including matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI-TOF) and MALDI-TOF/TOF analyses, to the structural analysis of N- and O-linked carbohydrates released from two samples of neutrophils, prepared by two separate and geographically remote laboratories. The data produced demonstrates that the cells display a diverse range of sialylated and fucosylated complex glycans, with a high level of similarity between the two preparations.

Dendritic cell maturation results in pronounced changes in glycan expression affecting recognition by siglecs and galectins.

Dendritic cells (DC) are the most potent APC in the organism. Immature dendritic cells (iDC) reside in the tissue where they capture pathogens whereas mature dendritic cells (mDC) are able to activate T cells in the lymph node. This dramatic functional change is mediated by an important genetic reprogramming. Glycosylation is the most common form of posttranslational modification of proteins and has been implicated in multiple aspects of the immune response. To investigate the involvement of glycosylation in the changes that occur during DC maturation, we have studied the differences in the glycan profile of iDC and mDC as well as their glycosylation machinery. For information relating to glycan biosynthesis, gene expression profiles of human monocyte-derived iDC and mDC were compared using a gene microarray and quantitative real-time PCR. This gene expression profiling showed a profound maturation-induced up-regulation of the glycosyltransferases involved in the expression of LacNAc, core 1 and sialylated structures and a down-regulation of genes involved in the synthesis of core 2 O-glycans. Glycosylation changes during DC maturation were corroborated by mass spectrometric analysis of N- and O-glycans and by flow cytometry using plant lectins and glycan-specific Abs. Interestingly, the binding of the LacNAc-specific lectins galectin-3 and -8 increased during maturation and up-regulation of sialic acid expression by mDC correlated with an increased binding of siglec-1, -2, and -7.

Glycomics analysis of Schistosoma mansoni egg and cercarial secretions.

The parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni is a major public health concern in many developing countries. Glycoconjugates, and in particular the carbohydrate component of these products, represent the main immunogenic challenge to the host and could therefore represent one of the crucial determinants for successful parasite establishment. Here we report a comparative glycomics analysis of the N- and O-glycans derived from glycoproteins present in S. mansoni egg (egg-secreted protein) and cercarial (0-3-h released protein) secretions by a combination of mass spectrometric techniques. Our results show that S. mansoni secrete glycoproteins with glycosylation patterns that are complex and stage-specific. Cercarial stage secretions were dominated by N-glycans that were core-xylosylated, whereas N-glycans from egg secretions were predominantly core-difucosylated. O-Glycan core structures from cercarial secretions primarily consisted of the core sequence Galbeta1-->3(Galbeta1-->6)GalNAc, whereas egg-secreted O-glycans carried the mucin-type core 1 (Galbeta1-->3GalNAc) and 2 (Galbeta1-->3(GlcNAcbeta1-->6)GalNAc) structures. Additionally we identified a novel O-glycan core in both secretions in which a Gal residue is linked to the protein. Terminal structures of N- and O-glycans contained high levels of fucose and include stage-specific structures. These glycan structures identified in S. mansoni secretions are potentially antigenic motifs and ligands for carbohydrate-binding proteins of the host immune system.

Glycomic profiling of cells and tissues by mass spectrometry: fingerprinting and sequencing methodologies.

Over the past decade, rapid, high-sensitivity mass spectrometric strat-egies have been developed and optimized for screening for the types of N- and O-glycans present in a diverse range of biological material, including secretions, cell lines, tissues, and organs. These glycomic strategies are based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass fingerprinting of permethylated derivatives, combined with electrospray (ES) or MALDI tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) sequencing and gas chromatography (GC)-MS linkage analysis, complemented by chemical and enzymatic degradations. Protocols for these methods are described in the first part of this chapter. Glycomic experiments yield large volumes of MS data, and interpretation of the resulting spectra remains a time-consuming bottleneck in the process. In the second part of this chapter, we describe the use and operation of a mass spectral viewer program capable of displaying and automatically labeling spectra arising from MALDI fingerprinting of N-glycans.