N-glycosylation as a eukaryotic protective mechanism against protein aggregation.
Sci Adv
; 10(5): eadk8173, 2024 Feb 02.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38295165
ABSTRACT
The tendency for proteins to form aggregates is an inherent part of every proteome and arises from the self-assembly of short protein segments called aggregation-prone regions (APRs). While posttranslational modifications (PTMs) have been implicated in modulating protein aggregation, their direct role in APRs remains poorly understood. In this study, we used a combination of proteome-wide computational analyses and biophysical techniques to investigate the potential involvement of PTMs in aggregation regulation. Our findings reveal that while most PTM types are disfavored near APRs, N-glycosylation is enriched and evolutionarily selected, especially in proteins prone to misfolding. Experimentally, we show that N-glycosylation inhibits the aggregation of peptides in vitro through steric hindrance. Moreover, mining existing proteomics data, we find that the loss of N-glycans at the flanks of APRs leads to specific protein aggregation in Neuro2a cells. Our findings indicate that, among its many molecular functions, N-glycosylation directly prevents protein aggregation in higher eukaryotes.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Proteome
/
Protein Aggregates
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Adv
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Belgium
Country of publication:
United States