title: Terminal galactosylation of glycoconjugates in Plasmodium falciparum asexual blood stages and Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream trypomastigotes.
abstract: There is definitive biochemical evidence for the presence of terminal α-galactosyl residues (α-gal) in the N-linked oligosaccharides and glycophosphatidylinositol anchors (GPI anchors) of the variant surface glycoprotein of Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream trypomastigotes. Indirect evidence also exists for α-gal in Plasmodium falciparum asexual blood stage glycoproteins and glycolipids. The occurrence of α-gal in glycoproteins and glycolipids of T. brucei bloodstream trypomastigotes and P. falciparum late asexual blood stages was investigated by the binding of α-gal-specific Bandeirea simplicifolia B4 lectin 1 (BSB4), incorporation of [(3)H]galactose from UDP-[(3)H]galactose into glycoproteins and glycolipids in microsomes in vitro, and bioinformatic searches for galactosyl-transferase coding sequences. The findings confirm the presence of α-gal in a spectrum of T. brucei bloodstream trypomastigote glycoproteins and glycolipids and indicate its relative absence from P. falciparum asexual blood stage glycoconjugates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. ranjan.ramasamy@ubd.edu.bn
authors.forename: Ranjan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramasamy
authors.forename: Mark C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Field
mesh_terms: D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D005690:Galactose / Q000378:metabolism*; D005700:Galactosyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D006001:Glycoconjugates / Q000378:metabolism*; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000378:metabolism; D008861:Microsomes; D037121:Plant Lectins / Q000378:metabolism; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000378:metabolism*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014316:Tritium; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006001:Glycoconjugates; D006017:Glycolipids; C045475:Griffonia simplicifolia lectins; D007106:Immune Sera; D037121:Plant Lectins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D014316:Tritium; D005700:Galactosyltransferases; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D005690:Galactose