title: Hetero-oligomeric interactions between early glycosyltransferases of the dolichol cycle.
abstract: N-Linked glycosylation begins with the formation of a dolichol-linked oligosaccharide in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The first two steps of this pathway lead to the formation of GlcNAc(2)-PP-dolichol, whose synthesis is sequentially catalyzed by the Alg7p GlcNAc phosphotransferase and by the dimeric Alg13p/Alg14p UDP-GlcNAc transferase on the cytosolic face of the endoplasmic reticulum. Here, we show that the Alg7p, Alg13p, and Alg14p glycosyltransferases form a functional multienzyme complex. Coimmunoprecipitation and gel filtration assays demonstrate that the Alg7p/Alg13p/Alg14p complex is a hexamer with a native molecular weight of approximately 200 kDa and an Alg7p:Alg13:Alg14p stoichiometry of 1:1:1. These results highlight and extend the striking parallels that exist between these eukaryotic UDP-GlcNAc transferases and their bacterial MraY and MurG homologs that catalyze the first two steps of the lipid-linked peptidoglycan precursor. In addition to their preferred substrate and lipid acceptors, these enzymes are similar in their structure, chemistry, temporal, and spatial organization. These similarities point to an evolutionary link between the early steps of N-linked glycosylation and those of peptidoglycan synthesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5215, USA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Noffz
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keppler-Ross
authors.forename: Neta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dean
mesh_terms: D004286:Dolichols / Q000378:metabolism*; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism; D006031:Glycosylation; D016695:Glycosyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D055503:Protein Multimerization / Q000502:physiology*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004286:Dolichols; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D016695:Glycosyltransferases; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases; C063057:UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-peptide beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase