Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Metabolic selection of glycosylation defects in human cells

Nature Biotechnology volume 19, pages 553–558 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Changes in glycosylation are often associated with disease progression, but the genetic and metabolic basis of these events is rarely understood in detail at a molecular level. We describe a metabolism-based approach to the selection of mutants in glycoconjugate biosynthesis that provides insight into regulatory mechanisms for oligosaccharide expression and metabolic flux. Unnatural intermediates are used to challenge a specific pathway, and cell surface expression of their metabolic products provides a readout of flux in that pathway and a basis for selecting genetic mutants. The approach was applied to the sialic acid metabolic pathway in human cells, yielding novel mutants with phenotypes related to the inborn metabolic defect sialuria and metastatic tumor cells.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: A metabolism-based forward genetics approach.
Figure 2: The sialic acid biosynthetic pathway in human cells.
Figure 3: Strategy for evolution of human Jurkat cells and results of metabolic selection.
Figure 4: Characterization of the low-SiaLev Jurkat cell lines.
Figure 5: Mutational analysis of low-SiaLev cell lines.
Figure 6: Molecular characterization of the high-SiaLev cell line.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Durand, G. & Seta, N. Protein glycosylation and diseases: blood and urinary oligosaccharides as marker for diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring. Clin. Chem. 46, 795–805 (2000).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Orntoft, T.F. & Vestergaard, E.M. Clinical aspects of altered glycosylation of glycoproteins in cancer. Electrophoresis 20, 362–371 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Axford, J.S. Glycosylation and rheumatic disease. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1455, 219–229 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Mackiewicz, A. & Mackiewicz, K. Glycoforms of serum alpha 1-acid glycoprotein as markers of inflammation and cancer. Glycoconj. J. 12, 241–247 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lemyre, E. et al. Clinical spectrum of infantile free sialic acid storage disease. Am J. Med. Genet. 82, 385–391 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sell, S. Cancer-associated carbohydrates identified by monoclonal antibodies. Hum. Pathol. 21, 1003–1019 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kukuruzinska, M.A. & Lennon, K. Protein N-glycosylation: molecular genetics and functional significance. Crit. Rev. Oral Biol. Med. 9, 415–448 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Stanley, P. & Ioffe, E. Glycosyltransferase mutants: key to new insights in glycobiology. FASEB J. 9, 1436–1444 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dennis, J.W., Granovsky, M. & Warren, C.E. Protein glycosylation in development and disease. BioEssays 21, 412–421 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Stark, G.R. & Gudkov, A.V. Forward genetics in mammalian cells: functional approaches to gene discovery. Hum. Mol. Genet. 8, 1925–1938 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Rutishauser, U. Polysialic acid at the cell surface: biophysics in service of cell interactions and tissue plasticity. J. Cell. Biochem. 70, 304–312 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sillanaukee, P., Ponnio, M. & Jaaskelainen, I.P. Occurrence of sialic acids in healthy humans and different disorders. Eur. J. Clin. Invest. 29, 413–425 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Mahal, L.K., Yarema, K.J. & Bertozzi, C.R. Engineering chemical reactivity on cell surfaces through oligosaccharide biosynthesis. Science 276, 1125–1128 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Yarema, K.J., Mahal, L.K., Bruehl, R.E., Rodriguez, E.C. & Bertozzi, C.R. Metabolic delivery of ketone groups to sialic acid residues. Application to cell surface glycoform engineering. J. Biol. Chem. 273, 31168–31179 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Bellgard, M.I., Itoh, T., Watanabe, H., Imanishi, T. & Gojobor, T. Dynamic evolution of genomes and the concept of genome space. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 870, 293–300 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Fabb, S.A. & Ragoussis, J. High-efficiency human B-cell cloning using hygromycin B-resistant feeder cells. Biotechniques 22, 814–822 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Jalanko, A., Kallio, A., Ruohonin-Lehto, M., Soderlund, H. & Ulmanen, I. An EBV-based mammalian cell expression vector for efficient expression of cloned coding sequences. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 949, 206–212 (1988).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Wang, W.-C. & Cummings, R.D. The immobilized leukoagglutinin from the seeds of Maackia amurensis binds with high affinity to complex-type Asn-linked oligosaccharides containing terminal sialic acid-linked α-2,3 to penultimate galactose residues. J. Biol. Chem. 263, 4576–4585 (1988).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Taatjes, D.J., Roth, J., Peumans, W. & Goldstein, I.J. Elderberry bark lectin–gold techniques for the detection of Neu5Ac (α2,6) Gal/GalNAc sequences: applications and limitations. Histochem. J. 20, 478–490 (1988).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Jourdian, G.W., Dean, L. & Roseman, S. The sialic acids. XI. A periodate–resorcinol method for the quantitative estimation of free sialic acids and their glycosides. J. Biol. Chem. 246, 430–435 (1971).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Hale, L.P., van de Ven, C.J., Wenger, D.A., Bradford, W.D. & Kahler, S.G. Infantile sialic acid storage disease: a rare cause of cytoplasmic vacuolation in pediatric patients. Pediatr. Pathol. Lab. Med. 15, 443–453 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Thomas, G.H., Scocca, J., Miller, C.S. & Reynolds, L. Evidence for non-lysosomal storage of N-acetylneuraminic acid (sialic acid) in sialuria fibroblasts. Clin. Genet. 36, 242–249 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Seppala, R. et al. Sialic acid metabolism in sialuria fibroblasts. J. Biol. Chem. 266, 7456–7461 (1991).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Lucka, L., Krause, M., Reutter, W. & Horstkorte, R. Primary structure and expression analysis of human UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine-2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase, the bifunctional enzyme in neuraminic acid biosynthesis. FEBS Lett. 454, 341–344 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Seppala, R., Lehto, V.P. & Gahl, W.A. Mutations in the human UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase gene define the disease sialuria and the allosteric site of the enzyme. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 64, 1563–1569 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Perera, A.D., Lagenaur, C.F. & Plant, T.M. Postnatal expression of polysialic acid–neural cell adhesion molecule in the hypothalamus of the male rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). Endocrinology 133, 2729–2735 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Ronn, L.C., Berezin, V. & Bock, E. The neural cell adhesion molecule in synaptic plasticity and ageing. Int. J. Dev. Neurosci. 18, 193–199 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Nakayama, J., Angata, K., Ong, E., Katwuyama, T. & Fukuda, M. Polysialic acid, a unique glycan that is developmentally regulated by two polysialyltransferases, PST and STX, in the central nervous system from biosynthesis to function. Pathol. Int. 48, 665–677 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Kameda, K. et al. Expression of highly polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule in pancreatic cancer neural invasive lesion. Cancer Lett. 137, 201–207 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Hang, H. & Bertozzi, C.R. Ketone isoesters of 2-N-acetaminosugars as substrates for metabolic cell surface engineering. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 1242–1243 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Keppler, O.T. et al. UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase: a regulator of cell surface sialylation. Science 284, 1372–1376 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Foley, K.P., Leonard, M.W. & Engel, J.D. Quantitation of RNA using the polymerase chain-reaction. Trends Genet. 9, 380–385 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Zimmermann, K. & Mannhalter, J.W. Technical aspects of quantitative competitive PCR. Biotechniques 21, 268 (1996).

  34. Halford, W.P., Falco, V.C., Gebhardt, B.M. & Carr, D.J.J. The inherent quantitative capacity of the reverse transcription of polymerase chain reaction. Anal. Biochem. 266, 181–191 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Lara K. Mahal for contributions of ManLev, and P. Schow and H. Nolla (Flow Cytometry Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley) for helpful discussions and technical assistance. This work was supported by the director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, and the Office of Energy Biosciences of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098 and the National Institutes of Health (GM58867-01).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Kevin J. Yarema

    Present address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, CA

    Kevin J. Yarema, Scarlett Goon & Carolyn R. Bertozzi

  2. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, CA

    Carolyn R. Bertozzi

  3. Materials Sciences Division, Center for Advanced Materials, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, 94720, CA

    Kevin J. Yarema & Carolyn R. Bertozzi

  4. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Berkeley, 94720, CA

    Carolyn R. Bertozzi

Authors
  1. Kevin J. Yarema
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Scarlett Goon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carolyn R. Bertozzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carolyn R. Bertozzi.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text (PDF 5 kb)

Supplementary Figure 1.

Strategy for reconstituting the sialuria phenotype in wild-type Jurkat cells by introduction of mutant UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase. Jurkat cells (colored) harboring mutant epimerase genes were isolated from a large population of wild-type cells (black) by ManLev-based metabolic selection methods. Using the methods described in the main text, mRNA was (1) isolated from each of these cell types, (2) used for cDNA synthesis, (3) subjected to PCR amplification, (4) DNA sequencing, and subsequently (5) cloned into the expression vector pREP9. Note that pREP9(WT), black, contained the wild-type gene; pREP9(R263Q), red, and pREP9(R266W), purple, contained the indicated mutant gene. These plasmids were transfected into wild-type Jurkat cells by the LipofectAMINE method (see main text). The cells were incubated with 300 mg/ml G418 (selection agent for the neomycin-resistance gene of pREP9) for two weeks. The concentration of G418 was then doubled to 600 mg/ml and maintained at this concentration. The cells were periodically analyzed to determine internal sialic acid levels and cell surface SiaLev expression by the methods described in the main text. (JPG 52 kb)

Supplementary Figure 2.

Reconstitution of the low-SiaLev phenotype in wild-type Jurkat cells by expression of mutant UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase genes. SiaLev expression was determined under standard conditions after incubation with ManLev as described in the main text following transfection of wild-type Jurkat cells with the wild-type, R263Q, or R266W form of UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase. SiaLev expression analysis for the epimerase-transfected cell lines are shown in black superimposed on similar data for negative (ManLev (-), blue) and positive control (ManLev (+), green) parent cells. (A) Two weeks after transfection and subsequent incubation with a low level of selection agent (300 mg/ml G418), the wild-type epimerase gene had no effect on SiaLev expression in Jurkat cells (left, cell population I). By contrast, a subpopulation of cells with reduced SiaLev expression was developing in both the R263Q- and the R266W-transfected Jurkat cells (center and right, II). Both of these cultures also contained cells with wild-type SiaLev expression (III) possibly due to the survival of nontransformed cells in the presence of relatively low level of selection agent. Consequently G418 concentration was increased to 600 mg/ml to ensure removal of these cells. (B) The wild-type epimerase gene had no noticeable affect on SiaLev expression five weeks after transfection into Jurkat cells (left, cell population IV). The proportion of low-SiaLev cells in the R263Q- and R266W-transfected cultures (center and right, V) had increased relative to the number of cells with normal SiaLev expression (VI). A reasonable explanation for the two distinct cell populations is that the low-SiaLev cells expressed both genes situated on the engineered pREP9 plasmid (i.e., the mutant epimerase and neomycin resistance gene), whereas the cells with normal SiaLev expressed only the neomycin resistance gene. (C) Baseline separation of populations V and VI (panel B) allowed rapid sorting of the low-SiaLev cells into homogeneous cell populations (center and right, VII) by flow cytometry. Similar sorting for the culture transfected with the wild-type epimerase gene yielded no cells (panel C, left), verifying the causal role that the mutant epimerase gene plays in the development of the low-SiaLev phenotype. (JPG 83 kb)

Supplementary Figure 3.

Analysis of Jurkat cells expressing the wild-type and mutant UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase genes. SiaLev expression of various Jurkat subpopulations was determined by biotin hydrazide labeling, FITC-avidin staining, and flow cytometry analysis of the cells. Sialic acid levels were determined by the periodate resorcinol assay. In (A), data labeled (+) and (-) indicate wild-type Jurkat cells incubated with and without ManLev. These cells function as positive and negative control populations, respectively. In both panels data labeled WT represent cells transfected with the wild-type epimerase (population IV, Supplementary Fig. 2B, left) and data labeled R263Q and R266W represent cells transfected with either form of the mutant epimerase (population VII, Supplementary Fig. 2C, center and right, respectively). Each data point is the average of five determinations. (A) Jurkat cells transfected with the wild-type epimerase show a level of SiaLev expression similar to nontransformed, positive control cells (two lefthand bars). By contrast, cells transfected with an epimerase containing either the R263Q or the R266W mutation have levels of SiaLev expression comparable to nontransformed, negative control (ManLev(-)) cells (three righthand bars). (B) Authentic sialuria cells are characterized by increased levels of sialic acid, particularly in the free monosaccharide form. Therefore the sialic acid levels of the transfected cells were determined to verify that the R263Q and R266W mutations fully reconstitute the sialuria phenotype. As shown, the wild-type epimerase has no effect on either total sialic acid levels or the free monosaccharide form of this sugar. By contrast, both of the mutant forms of the epimerase substantially increase the free sialic acid content of the transformed cells. (JPG 32 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yarema, K., Goon, S. & Bertozzi, C. Metabolic selection of glycosylation defects in human cells. Nat Biotechnol 19, 553–558 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/89305

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/89305

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing