DISSOCIATION OF M- AND N-GROUP MUCOPROTEINS INTO SUBUNITS IN DETERGENT SOLUTIONS

Analytical detection of 9(4)-O-acetylated sialoglycoproteins and gangliosides using influenza C virus

The unique glycoprotein of influenza C virus, designated hemagglutinin (HEF), exhibits three functions: hemagglutination, esterase activity, and fusion factor. As the virus uses 9-O-acetylated sialic acid as a high-affinity receptor determinant for attachment to cells, its binding activity was used to reveal O-acetylated sialic acid residues after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transfer onto nitrocellulose sheets of proteins and thin-layer chromatography of lipids. The specificity of the binding for O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates was investigated. Our results showed that influenza C virus could detect the different forms of the two murine glycophorins which are known to be O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates. The virus also bound to O-acetylated gangliosides isolated from embryonic chicken brain such as purified O-acetylated NeuAc alpha (2-8)NeuAc alpha (2-8)NeuAc alpha (2-3)Gal beta (1-4)Glc beta (1-1)ceramide (GT3). The esterase activity of the HEF protein of influenza C virus was used to unmask the sialic acid. After its deacetylation by the virus enzyme, the O-acetylated GT3 was recognized by a monoclonal antibody which binds only to the nonacetylated derivative. The results presented here show that influenza C virus is a discriminating analytical probe for identifying O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates directly after Western blotting of proteins and thin-layer chromatography of lipids, thus providing a new analytical tool.

Purification and characterization of a receptor for the 987P pilus of Escherichia coli

A receptor-containing fraction that caused visible aggregation of piliated Escherichia coli strain 987 bacteria was released into solution when brush borders from adult rabbit small intestines were stored. The receptor-containing fraction was separated into more than 50 bands by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, 4 of which contained carbohydrate as demonstrated by staining with periodic acid-Schiff. Receptor activity in the receptor-containing fraction was associated with a low-molecular-weight (less than 14,000) glycoprotein as measured by Western blots. Extraction of brush borders with chloroform-methanol-water (4:8:3) resulted in increased pilus 987P receptor activity in the aqueous extract. Gel filtration chromatography of sodium dodecyl sulfate-solubilized aqueous extract yielded a fraction with 987P receptor activity that contained only the low-molecular-weight glycoprotein. The purified 987P receptor contained 81% carbohydrate and 19% amino acids by weight. Isoelectric focusing separated the 987P receptor receptor into 3 peaks corresponding to isoelectric points of 2.2, 3.8, and 4.1. Each of the peaks contained 987P receptor activity. The 987P receptor activity was sensitive to periodate oxidation and to digestion with pronase. The strain 987-agglutinating activity of the receptor was inhibited by amino sugars and their N-acetylated derivatives, by compounds having a free amino group, by high concentrations of salt, and by lectins that recognize D-galactose or L-fucose.

Chemical and physical properties of the human urinary glycoprotein with gastric antisecretory activity

The chemical and physical properties of the high-molecular-weight glycoprotein (SO20, w = 8S; Ve=Vo on Sephadex G-200) with gastric antisecretory activity extracted from the urine of pregnant women were studied. Gel filtration in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate and sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-disc-gel electrophoresis indicated subunit mol.wts. of 16 000 +/- 1500 and 13 000 +/- 1000 respectively. Reaggregation of the subunits and partial recovery of the biological activity were observed on removal of the detergent. The partial C-terminal sequence was found to be Phe-Tyr-Leu-Val-OH, whereas glycine appears to be the N-terminal amino acid. The carbohydrate composition was examined; all galactosamine was found to be O-glycosidically linked to the polypeptide chain.

Membrane glycopeptides from old and young human erythrocytes

Glycopeptides were extracted by papain digestion from old and young human erythrocyte membranes and fractionated on DEAE-Sephadex A-25. Chemical characterization of the unfractionated samples and of the main peak eluted from the column indicates that glycoproteins of the erythrocyte membrane undergo significant decreases in sialic acid and galactosamine content with aging.

Anionic sites of human erythrocyte membranes. II. Antispectrin-induced transmembrane aggregation of the binding sites for positively charged colloidal particles

The effects of affinity-purified antispectrin gamma-globulins on the topographic distribution of anionic residues on human erythrocytes membranes was investigated using collo ida iron hydroxide labeling of mounted, fixed, ghost membranes. Antispectrin gamma-globulins were sequestered inside ghosts by hemolysis and the ghosts were incubated for 30 min at 37 degrees C and then fixed with glutaraldehyde. The topographic distribution of colloidal iron hydroxide clusters on ghosts incubated with low (<0.05 mg/ml) or high (>5-10 mg/ml concentrations of sequestered antispectrin was dispersed, but the distribution at intermediate concentrations (0.1-5 mg/ml) was highly aggregated. The aggregation of colloidal iron hydroxide binding sites was time and temperature dependent and required the sequestering of cross-linking antibodies (antispectrin Fab could not substitute for gamma-globulin antibodies) inside the ghosts. Prior glutaraldehyde fixation or fixation at the time of hemolysis in antispectrin solutions prevented the antispectrin-induced colloidal iron site aggregation. The antispectrin reacted exclusively at the inner ghost membrane surface and the colloidal iron hydroxide bound to N-acetylneuraminic acid residues on the outer membrane surface which are overwhelming on the sialoglycoprotein glycophorin. These results were interpreted as evidence for a structural transmembrane linkage between the inner surface peripheral protein spectrin and the integral membrane component glycophorin.

The enzymatic iodination of the red cell membrane

An enzymatic iodination procedure utilizing lactoperoxidase (LPO), radioactive iodide, and hydrogen peroxide generated by a glucose oxidase-glucose system has been described and utilized for a study of the red cell membrane. 97% of the incorporated isotope is in the erythrocyte ghost and 3% is associated with hemoglobin. No significant labeling of the red cell membrane occurs in the absence of LPO or by the deletion of any of the other reagents. A 6 million-fold excess of chloride ions inhibits iodination by no more than 50%. Incorporation of up to 1 x 10(6) iodide atoms into a single erythrocyte membrane results in no significant cell lysis. The incorporated label is exclusively in tyrosine residues as monoiodotyrosine. 10-15% of the trichloroacetic acid-precipitable radioactivity can be extracted with lipid solvents but is present as either labeled protein or (125)I. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of solubilized membrane proteins reveals only two labeled protein bands out of the 15 present, and the presence of 50-1 x 10(6) iodide atoms per ghost does not alter this pattern. Component a has a molecular weight of 110,000, is carbohydrate poor, and represents 40% of the total label. Component b has an apparent molecular weight of 74,000, contains all of the demonstrable sialic acid, and accounts for 60% of the total label. Trypsinization of iodinated, intact red cells results in the disappearance of only component b, the appearance of labeled glycopeptides in the medium, and the absence of smaller, labeled peptides remaining in the membrane. Pronase treatment hydrolyzes component b in a similar fashion, but also cleaves component a to a 72,000 mol wt peptide which is retained in the membrane. A combination of protease treatment and double labeling with (125)I and (131)I does not reveal the appearance of previously unexposed proteins.

Preparation and further characterization of the MN glycoprotein of human erythrocyte membranes

Human erythrocyte membrane glycoproteins were solubilized and recovered in the aqueous phase after extraction of red cell ghosts with a mixture of chloroform and methanol. The major glycoprotein, the so-called MN glycoprotein, was prepared from this phase by gel filtration on Sepharose 4B columns in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride. By SDS-acrylamide gel electrophoresis the MN glycoproteins from the three major genetic types, MM, MN, and NN, were found to be relatively free from minor glycoprotein contaminants. The carbohydrate and amino acid composition did not reveal significant differences between the three MN genotypes. The specific activities of the purified glycoproteins were determined for inhibition of agglutinating anti-M and anti-N rabbit antisera and for inhibition of myxovirus hemagglutination. It was, furthermore, established that the purified MN glycoproteins contain a receptor for Phaseolus vulgaris phytohemagglutination. The red cell MN glycoprotein inhibits partially lymphocyte stimulation induced by unfractionated Phaseolus vulgaris phytohemagglutinin; the red cell MN glycoprotein does not influence the lymphocyte stimulation induced by purified Phaseolus vulgaris mitogen.

Separation and some properties of the major proteins of the human erythrocyte membrane

A fractionation procedure is described which allows the isolation of three major human erythrocyte membrane proteins. Their isolation involves three sequential extraction procedures followed by gel filtration in 1% sodium dodecyl sulphate and preparative gel electrophoresis. All three proteins can be isolated from a single preparation. One of the proteins is the erythrocyte sialoglycoprotein, for which no C- or N-terminal residues were found. The other two proteins, which have not previously been isolated, have subunit molecular weights of 74000 and 93000 and contain 9 and 7% carbohydrate respectively. These glycoproteins have blocked N-terminal residues and show similarities in their chemical properties. Preparations derived from blood-group O erythrocytes contain no N-acetylgalactosamine, but similar preparations from blood-group A erythrocytes do contain this sugar. These three proteins cannot easily be solubilized by gentle aqueous procedures and represent about half of the erythrocyte ;ghost' protein. They carry a large proportion of the cell-surface carbohydrate.

Chemical characterization and surface orientation of the major glycoprotein of the human erythrocyte membrane

The major glycoprotein of the human erythrocyte membrane has been isolated by treatment with lithium di-iodosalicylate and found to be a single polypeptide chain with a molecular weight of about 50,000. This molecule, which is 60% carbohydrate and 40% protein, carries multiple blood-group antigens, the receptors for influenza viruses, and various plant agglutinins. Four unique carbohydrate-containing peptides (alpha-1, alpha-2, alpha-3, and beta) are produced by tryptic digestion of the isolated glycoprotein; their order in the molecule has been determined by sequential tryptic digestion of intact erythrocyte membranes and partially digested glycoprotein fragments. Cleavage of the native protein with cyanogen bromide produces five fragments; two of these (C-5 and C-1) contain most of the carbohydrate in the molecule and are derived from the N-terminal half of the polypeptide chain. The nonpolar amino acids of this glycoprotein are located predominantly in the C-terminal fragment (C-2). Phytohemagglutinin conjugated to ferritin has been used to map the distribution of glycoprotein receptors over the surfaces of intact erythrocytes by freeze-etching and electron microscopy. This label localizes to sites on the membrane that overlie the intramembranous particles. These findings suggest that the glycoprotein is oriented at the cell surface with its oligosaccharide-rich N-terminal end exposed to the exterior, while its C-terminal segment interacts with other components in the interior of the membrane to form intramembranous particles.