Identification of the blood group Lewis(a) determinant in the oviducal mucins of Xenopus tropicalis.
The amphibian Xenopus tropicalis appears an increasingly appealing model for both genetic and developmental biology studies, compared to the related species Xenopus laevis. Study of the glycosylation pattern of its secreted glycoproteins revealed that this species synthesizes large amounts of Lewis(a) epitope, whereas this motif has previously only been identified in animals within the primate lineage. The use of (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy enabled us to resolve the sequence of three Lewis(a)-bearing O-linked glycans associated with oviducal secretions, out of which one contained the novel sequence Gal(beta 1-3)GlcNAc(beta 1-6)GalNAc-ol. These structural data suggested the emergence of an alpha 1,4-fucosyltransferase activity in animals outside the primate lineage. On this basis, the screening of a X. tropicalis GenBank database with human Lewis-fucosyltransferase sequences revealed the occurrence of a putative fucosyltransferase gene that presented an unusual acceptor motif.
Guérardel
Yann
Y
Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, UMR 8576, USTL, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
Petit
Daniel
D
Madigou
Thierry
T
Guillet
Brigitte
B
Maes
Emmanuel
E
Maftah
Abderrahman
A
Boujard
Daniel
D
Strecker
Gérard
G
Kol
Ossarath
O
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005647:Fucosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006031:Glycosylation; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D023421:Models, Animal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009077:Mucins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D010057:Oviducts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D014981:Xenopus / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000939:Epitopes; D006023:Glycoproteins; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; D009077:Mucins; D009844:Oligosaccharides; D005647:Fucosyltransferases