Publications

• Functional characterization of dehydratase/aminotransferase pairs from Helicobacter and Campylobacter: enzymes distinguishing the pseudaminic acid and bacillosamine biosynthetic pathways.

  Schoenhofen I.C., McNally D.J., Vinogradov E., Whitfield D., Young N.M., Dick S., Wakarchuk W.W., Brisson J.R., Logan S.M.

  Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni have been shown to modify their flagellins with pseudaminic acid (Pse), via O-linkage, while C. jejuni also possesses a general protein glycosylation pathway (Pgl) responsible for the N-linked modification of at least 30 proteins with a heptasaccharide ... >> More

  Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni have been shown to modify their flagellins with pseudaminic acid (Pse), via O-linkage, while C. jejuni also possesses a general protein glycosylation pathway (Pgl) responsible for the N-linked modification of at least 30 proteins with a heptasaccharide containing 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose, a derivative of bacillosamine. To further define the Pse and bacillosamine biosynthetic pathways, we have undertaken functional characterization of UDP-alpha-D-GlcNAc modifying dehydratase/aminotransferase pairs, in particular the H. pylori and C. jejuni flagellar pairs HP0840/HP0366 and Cj1293/Cj1294, as well as the C. jejuni Pgl pair Cj1120c/Cj1121c using His(6)-tagged purified derivatives. The metabolites produced by these enzymes were identified using NMR spectroscopy at 500 and/or 600 MHz with a cryogenically cooled probe for optimal sensitivity. The metabolites of Cj1293 (PseB) and HP0840 (FlaA1) were found to be labile and could only be characterized by NMR analysis directly in aqueous reaction buffer. The Cj1293 and HP0840 enzymes exhibited C6 dehydratase as well as a newly identified C5 epimerase activity that resulted in the production of both UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-beta-L-arabino-4-hexulose and UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-xylo-4-hexulose. In contrast, the Pgl dehydratase Cj1120c (PglF) was found to possess only C6 dehydratase activity generating UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-xylo-4-hexulose. Substrate-specificity studies demonstrated that the flagellar aminotransferases HP0366 and Cj1294 utilize only UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-beta-L-arabino-4-hexulose as substrate producing UDP-4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-beta-L-AltNAc, a precursor in the Pse biosynthetic pathway. In contrast, the Pgl aminotransferase Cj1121c (PglE) utilizes only UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-xylo-4-hexulose producing UDP-4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-GlcNAc (UDP-2-acetamido-4-amino-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose), a precursor used in the production of the Pgl glycan component 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranose. << Less

  J. Biol. Chem. 281:723-732(2006) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 3 other entries.

• In vitro biosynthesis of UDP-N,N'-diacetylbacillosamine by enzymes of the Campylobacter jejuni general protein glycosylation system.

  Olivier N.B., Chen M.M., Behr J.R., Imperiali B.

  In Campylobacter jejuni 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-d-glucopyranose, termed N,N'-diacetylbacillosamine (Bac2,4diNAc), is the first carbohydrate in the glycoprotein N-linked heptasaccharide. With uridine diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) as a starting point, two enzymes of the g ... >> More

  In Campylobacter jejuni 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-d-glucopyranose, termed N,N'-diacetylbacillosamine (Bac2,4diNAc), is the first carbohydrate in the glycoprotein N-linked heptasaccharide. With uridine diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) as a starting point, two enzymes of the general protein glycosylation (Pgl) pathway in C. jejuni (PglF and PglE) have recently been shown to modify this sugar nucleotide to form UDP-2-acetamido-4-amino-2,4,6-trideoxy-alpha-d-glycopyranose (UDP-4-amino-sugar) [Schoenhofen, I. C., et al. (2006) J. Biol. Chem. 281, 723-732]. PglD has been proposed to catalyze the final step in N,N'-diacetylbacillosamine synthesis by N-acetylation of the UDP-4-amino-sugar at the C4 position. We have cloned, overexpressed, and purified PglD from the pgl locus of C. jejuni NCTC 11168 and identified it as the acetyltransferase that modifies the UDP-4-amino-sugar to form UDP-N,N'-diacetylbacillosamine, utilizing acetyl-coenzyme A as the acetyl group donor. The UDP-N,N'-diacetylbacillosamine product was purified from the reaction by reverse phase C18 HPLC and the structure determined by NMR analysis. Additionally, the full-length PglF was overexpressed and purified in the presence of detergent as a GST fusion protein, allowing for derivation of kinetic parameters. We found that the UDP-4-amino-sugar was readily synthesized from UDP-GlcNAc in a coupled reaction using PglF and PglE. We also demonstrate the in vitro biosynthesis of the complete heptasaccharide lipid-linked donor by coupling the action of eight enzymes (PglF, PglE, PglD, PglC, PglA, PglJ, PglH, and PglI) in the Pgl pathway in a single reaction vessel. << Less

  Biochemistry 45:13659-13669(2006) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 1 other entry.

• Biosynthesis of UDP-N-acetyl-L-fucosamine, a precursor to the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide in Pseudomonas aeruginosa serotype O11.

  Mulrooney E.F., Poon K.K., McNally D.J., Brisson J.R., Lam J.S.

  UDP-N-acetyl-L-fucosamine is a precursor to l-fucosamine in the lipopolysaccharide of Pseudomonas aeruginosa serotype O11 and the capsule of Staphylococcus aureus type 5. We have demonstrated previously the involvement of three enzymes, WbjB, WbjC, and WbjD, in the biosynthesis of UDP-2-acetamido- ... >> More

  UDP-N-acetyl-L-fucosamine is a precursor to l-fucosamine in the lipopolysaccharide of Pseudomonas aeruginosa serotype O11 and the capsule of Staphylococcus aureus type 5. We have demonstrated previously the involvement of three enzymes, WbjB, WbjC, and WbjD, in the biosynthesis of UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-L-galactose or UDP-N-acetyl-L-fucosamine (UDP-l-FucNAc). An intermediate compound from the coupled-reaction of WbjB-WbjC with the initial substrate UDP-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-alpha-D-glucose or UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) was purified, and the structure was determined by NMR spectroscopy to be UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-L-talose (UDP-L-PneNAc). WbjD could then convert this intermediate into a new product with the same mass, consistent with a C-2 epimerization reaction. Those results led us to propose a pathway for the biosynthesis of UDP-L-FucNAc; however, the exact enzymatic activity of each of these proteins has not been defined. Here, we describe a fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC)-based anion-exchange procedure, which allowed the separation and purification of the products of C-2 epimerization due to WbjD. Also, the application of a cryogenically cooled probe in NMR spectrometry offers the greatest sensitivity for determining the structures of minute quantities of materials, allowing the identification of the final product of the pathway. Our results showed that WbjB is bifunctional, catalyzing firstly C-4, C-6 dehydration and secondly C-5 epimerization in the reaction with the substrate UDP-D-GlcNAc, producing two intermediates. WbjC is also bifunctional, catalyzing C-3 epimerization of the second intermediate followed by reduction at C-4. The FPLC-based procedure provided good resolution of the final product of WbjD reaction from its epimer/substrate UDP-l-PneNAc, and the use of the cryogenically cooled probe in NMR revealed unequivocally that the final product is UDP-L-FucNAc. << Less

  J. Biol. Chem. 280:19535-19542(2005) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 5 other entries.