title: A plant fucosyltransferase with human Lewis blood-group specificity.
abstract: A fucosyltransferase from mung bean seedling was found to transfer L-fucose from GDP-fucose to the Type 1 disaccharide beta-D-Galp-(1----3)-beta-D-GlcpNAc-OR [R = (CH2)8COOMe]. The product, which was detected by an anti-Lea antibody in a novel ELISA assay, was isolated and shown to be the human Lea blood-group determinant beta-D-Galp-(1----3)-[alpha-L-Fucp-(1----4)]-beta-D-GlcpNAc-OR by 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy. This enzyme activity is distinct from that of the human Lewis-fucosyl-transferase since alpha-L-Fucp-(1----2)-beta-D-Galp-(1----4)-beta-D-Glcp-OR is a very poor substrate, while the Type 2 disaccharide beta-D-Galp-(1----4)-beta-D-GlcpNAc-OR is not an acceptor. In common with the Lewis fucosyltransferase, the H-Type 1 trisaccharide alpha-L-Fucp-(1----2)-beta-D-Galp-(1----3)-beta-D-GlcpNAc-OR was an excellent substrate for the enzyme. This new enzyme activity was further characterized with respect to pH, nucleotide, Mn2+ dependence, and acceptor specificity against a panel of synthetic oligosaccharides.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Crawley
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hindsgaul
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ratcliffe
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Lamontagne
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Palcic
mesh_terms: D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000201:enzymology*; D005647:Fucosyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006602:Hexosyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; D005647:Fucosyltransferases; D006602:Hexosyltransferases