Neutral Nglycan patterns of the gastropods Empha

Authors: Martin Gutternigg Sabine Bürgmayr Gerald Pöltl Judith Rudolf Erika Staudacher

Publish Date: 2007/05/22

Volume: 24, Issue: 8, Pages: 475-489

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Abstract

The Nglycosylation potentials of Limax maximus Cepaea hortensis Planorbarius corneus Arianta arbustorum and Achatina fulica were analysed by investigation of the Nglycan structures of the skin and viscera glycoproteins by a combination of HPLC and massspectrometry methods It is one of the first steps to enlarge the knowledge on the glycosylation abilities of gastropods which may help to establish new cell culture systems to uncover new means for pest control for some species and to identify carbohydrateepitopes which may be relevant for immune response All snails analysed contained mainly oligomannosidic and small paucimannosidic structures often terminated with 3Omethylated mannoses The truncated structures carried modifications by β12linked xylose to the βmannose residue and/or an αfucosylation mainly α16linked to the innermost Nacetylglucosaminyl residue of the core Many of these structures were missing the terminal Nacetylglucosamine which has been shown to be a prerequisite for processing to complex Nglycans in the Golgi In some species Planorbarius corneus and Achatina fulica traces of large structures terminated by 3Omethylated galactoses and carrying xylose and/or fucose residues were also detected In Planorbarius viscera low amounts of terminal α12fucosylation were determined Combining these results gastropods seem to be capable to produce all kinds of structures ranging from those typical in mammals through to structures similar to those found in plants insects or nematodes The detailed knowledge of this very complex glycosylation system of the gastropods will be a valuable tool to understand the principle rules of glycosylation in all organismsThis project was partly financed by the Austrian Fonds zur wissenschaftlichen Forschung Project number P13928BIO We want to thank Dr Manfred Pintar Department for Integrative Biology Institute for Zoology University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna for identification and classification of the snails and Dr Iain Wilson for reading the manuscript The technical help of Thomas Dalik and Denise Kerner is highly appreciated

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