Asparagine-linked oligosaccharides in human placenta and umbilical cord as demonstrated by almond glycopeptidase

Characterization of the carbohydrate moiety of Clerodendron trichotomum lectins. Its structure and reactivity toward plant lectins

Lectins were isolated from fruits and leaves of Clerodendron trichotomum by affinity chromatography on lactamyl-Sepharose. The purified lectins (C. trichotomum agglutinin: CTA) were homogeneous on SDS/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the carbohydrate moiety was characterized by physicochemical and immunochemical methods. The asparagine-linked oligosaccharides were released by treatment with N-oligosaccharide glycopeptidase (almond, EC 3.5.1.52) of peptic glycopeptides obtained from fruit CTA, and separated by gel filtration and thin-layer chromatography. The structure of the predominant oligosaccharide was determined as Xyl beta 1----2 (Man alpha 1----6)(Man alpha 1----3)Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4(Fuc alpha 1----3)GlcNAc by high-performance liquid chromatography, sugar analysis and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The reactivity of the carbohydrate moiety of CTA toward various lectins was studied. Fruit and leaf CTAs were applied to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transferred to nitrocellulose sheets and detected with horseradish-peroxidase-conjugated lectins. Concanavalin A, lentil lectin, pea lectin, Vicia faba lectin and Ulex europeus agglutinin I, but not wheat germ lectin, bound to fruit CTA. The results indicate new binding properties of these plant lectins: a beta-xylosyl residue substituted at C-2 of the beta-mannosyl residue of N-linked oligosaccharide does not affect the binding with mannose-specific lectins, lentil, pea and Vicia faba lectins can bind to N-linked oligosaccharides containing an alpha-L-fucosyl residue attached to C-3 of the asparagine-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residue, and Ulex europeus agglutinin I can bind to the (alpha 1----3)-linked fucose residue of the N-linked oligosaccharide.

The histochemistry of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of glycoproteins in mammalian and avian tissues as studied by digestion with almond glycopeptidase

In a series of mammalian and avian tissues, asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of glycoproteins have been localized histochemically by means of combined periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and almond glycopeptidase digestion procedures. According to the present results, the particular saccharide residues were found to be localized primarily in glycoproteins of connective and muscular tissue elements but were hardly visualizable or absent in glycoproteins of epithelial tissue elements. In view of the substrate specificity of almond glycopeptidase and the known staining selectivity of the PAS reaction, the majority of connective and muscular tissue elements are thought to be the main sites where plasma types of glycoproteins are involved.

Effects of digestion with N-oligosaccharide glycopeptidase upon certain lectin-peroxidase-diaminobenzidine reactions of glycoproteins in mammalian and avian tissues

To determine the histochemical localization of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of glycoproteins in a series of different mammalian and avian tissues, the effects of digestion with N-oligosaccharide glycopeptidase upon certain lectin-peroxidase-diaminobenzidine reactions of the histological structures involved have been studied by light microscopy. Throughout the tissues examined, asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of glycoproteins were localized mainly in histological structures of connective and muscular tissues, but were hardly or not visualized in those of epithelial tissues. These results appear to lead to the concept that connective and muscular tissues represent the main sites where plasma types of glycoproteins are involved in mammalian and avian species.

Histochemical demonstration of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides in glycoproteins of human placenta and umbilical cord tissues by means of almond glycopeptidase digestion

Almond glycopeptidase is an enzyme which cleaves specifically beta-aspartylglucosylamine linkages in glycoproteins with asialo-carbohydrate moieties. With this enzyme, it was possible to demonstrate the localization of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides in glycoproteins of human placenta and umbilical cord tissues. In these tissues, the oligosaccharides were shown to react positively for a series of histochemical procedures for neutral complex carbohydrates such as periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), peroxidase-labelled Ricinus communis agglutinin-I-diaminobenzidine (PO-RCA-DAB) and concanavalin A-peroxidase-diaminobenzidine (Con A-PO-DAB). The asparagine-linked carbohydrates were localized in the placental villi, blood vessels and perivascular tissues and the umbilical cord blood vessels and matrix. The results of previous biochemical analyses performed upon the same tissues (Takahashi et al., 1981) have corroborated the results of the histochemical studies. The present results appear to substantiate the usefulness of almond glycopeptidase for the histochemical demonstration of the particular oligosaccharides of glycoproteins in tissues in general.