title: Primary and three-dimensional structure of lactotransferrin (lactoferrin) glycans.
abstract: In order to establish relationships between glycan structure and biological activity, the authors undertook a comparative study of the glycan primary structure of different transferrins from several species. By associating permethylation-mass spectrometry and 1H-NMR spectroscopy, the primary structure of the human, bovine, caprine, murine and porcine lactotransferrin glycans were determined. Using the same methods, the glycan structure of 9 serotransferrins was determined. The results obtained led to the conclusion that glycans are specific for each transferrin and, for a given transferrin, specific to the species. No relationship could be established between primary structure and function of transferrin glycans. Glycan molecular modelling, molecular dynamics simulations and X-ray diffraction studies of free glycans confirm the mobility in space of antennae. In contrast, the glycan associated with a protein is immobilized into only one conformation, as in the case of glycan-lectin associations or of "internal" glycan-protein interactions, like in rabbit serotransferrin, in which the glycan forms a bridge between the two lobes of the peptide chain, and maintains the protein in a biologically active conformation. In the case of human sero- and lactotransferrins, the glycans are in an external position on the molecules and could play a role of recognition signals.
authors.affiliation: Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique (Unité Mixte de Recherche n. 111 du CNRS), Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spik
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Coddeville
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mazurier
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bourne
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cambillaut
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montreuil
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D006001:Glycoconjugates / Q000737:chemistry; D006041:Goats; D006801:Humans; D007781:Lactoferrin / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013552:Swine; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D006001:Glycoconjugates; D009844:Oligosaccharides; D011134:Polysaccharides; D007781:Lactoferrin