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The obligate intracellular lifestyle of Plasmodium falciparum and the difficulties in obtaining sufficient amounts of biological material have hampered the study of specific metabolic pathways in the malaria parasite. Thus, for example, the pools of sugar nucleotides required to fuel glycosylation reactions have never been studied in-depth in well-synchronized asexual parasites or in other stages of its life cycle. These metabolites are of critical importance, especially considering the renewed interest in the presence of N -, O -, and other glycans in key parasite proteins. In this work, we adapted a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method based on the use of porous graphitic carbon (PGC) columns and MS-friendly solvents to quantify sugar nucleotides in the malaria parasite. We report the thorough quantification of the pools of these metabolites throughout the intraerythrocytic cycle of P. falciparum The sensitivity of the method enabled, for the first time, the targeted analysis of these glycosylation precursors in gametocytes, the parasite sexual stages that are transmissible to the mosquito vector., (© 2017 The Author(s).)

Phosphatidyl-myo-inositol mannosides (PIMs), lipomannan (LM) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM) are an important class of bacterial factors termed modulins that are found in tuberculosis and leprosy. Although their structures are well established, little is known with respect to the molecular aspects of the biosynthetic machinery involved in the synthesis of these glycolipids. On the basis of sequence similarity to other glycosyltransferases and our previous studies defining an alpha-mannosyltransferase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, named PimB [Schaeffer, Khoo, Besra, Chatterjee, Brennan, Belisle and Inamine (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 31625-31631], which catalysed the formation of triacyl (Ac(3))-PIM(2) (i.e. the dimannoside), we have identified a related gene from M. tuberculosis CDC1551, now designated pimC. The use of a cell-free assay containing GDP-[(14)C]mannose, amphomycin and membranes from Myobacterium smegmatis overexpressing PimC led to the synthesis of a new alkali-labile PIM product. Fast-atom-bombardment MS established the identity of the new enzymically synthesized product as Ac(3)PIM(3) (i.e. the trimannoside). The results indicate that pimC encodes an alpha-mannosyltransferase involved in Ac(3)PIM(3) biosynthesis. However, inactivation of pimC in Myobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) did not affect the production of higher PIMs, LM and LAM when compared with wild-type M. bovis BCG, suggesting the existence of redundant gene(s) or an alternate pathway that may compensate for this PimC deficiency. Further analyses, which compared the distribution of pimC in a panel of M. tuberculosis strains, revealed that pimC was present in only 22% of the clinical isolates examined.

The structures of glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs) in Plasmodium have been described [Gerold, Schuppert and Schwarz (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 2597-2606]. A detailed understanding of GPI synthesis in Plasmodium is a prerequisite for identifying differences present in biosynthetic pathways of parasites and host cells. A comparison of the biosynthetic pathway of GPIs has revealed differences between mammalian cells and parasitic protozoans. A cell-free incubation system prepared from asexual erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria in humans, is capable of synthesizing the same spectrum of GPIs as that found in metabolically labelled parasites. The formation of mannosylated GPIs in the cell-free system is shown to be inhibited by GTP and, unexpectedly, micromolar concentrations of GDP-Man. Lower concentrations of GDP-Man affect the spectrum of GPIs synthesized. The inositol ring of GPIs of P. falciparum is modified by an acyl group. The preferred donor of this fatty acid at the inositol ring is myristoyl-CoA. Inositol acylation has to precede the mannosylation of GPIs because, in the absence of acyl-CoA or CoA, mannosylated GPIs were not detected. Inositol myristoylation is a unique feature of plasmodial GPIs and thus might provide a potential target for drug therapy.

The effect of the addition of 1 microM-dexamethasone on the temporal sequence of the glycosylation process has been studied in HeLa S3G cells. In the presence of delipidized serum, dexamethasone caused an increase in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase and an accelerated synthesis of dolichols. These events were followed by an increase in the transfer of mannose from GDP-mannose to mannolipid. An increase in the rate of synthesis of lipid-linked oligosaccharides and a stimulation of glycosylation were observed in cells grown in the presence of delipidized serum in the culture medium. The data are consistent with the view that cellular syntheses of lipids and glycoproteins are co-ordinately controlled.

In the absence of detergent, the transfer of mannose from GDP-mannose to rat liver microsomal vesicles was highly stimulated by exogenous retinyl phosphate in incubations containing bovine serum albumin, as measured in a filter binding assay. Under these conditions 65% of mannose 6-phosphatase activity was latent. The transfer process was linear with time up to 5min and with protein concentration up to 1.5mg/0.2ml. It was also temperature-dependent. The microsomal uptake of mannose was highly dependent on retinyl phosphate and was saturable against increasing amounts of retinyl phosphate, a concentration of 15mum giving half-maximal transfer. The uptake system was also saturated by increasing concentrations of GDP-mannose, with an apparent K(m) of 18mum. Neither exogenous dolichyl phosphate nor non-phosphorylated retinoids were active in this process in the absence of detergent. Phosphatidylethanolamine and synthetic dipalmitoylglycerophosphocholine were also without activity. Several water-soluble organic phosphates (1.5mm), such as phenyl phosphate, 4-nitrophenyl phosphate, phosphoserine and phosphocholine, did not inhibit the retinyl phosphate-stimulated mannosyl transfer to microsomes. This mannosyl-transfer activity was highest in microsomes and marginal in mitochondria, plasma and nuclear membranes. It was specific for mannose residues from GDP-mannose and did not occur with UDP-[(3)H]galactose, UDP- or GDP-[(14)C]glucose, UDP-N-acetyl[(14)C]-glucosamine and UDP-N-acetyl[(14)C]galactosamine, all at 24mum. The mannosyl transfer was inhibited 85% by 3mm-EDTA and 93% by 0.8mm-amphomycin. At 2min, 90% of the radioactivity retained on the filter could be extracted with chloroform/methanol (2:1, v/v) and mainly co-migrated with retinyl phosphate mannose by t.l.c. This mannolipid was shown to bind to immunoglobulin G fraction of anti-(vitamin A) serum and was displaced by a large excess of retinoic acid, thus confirming the presence of the beta-ionone ring in the mannolipid. The amount of retinyl phosphate mannose formed in the bovine serum albumin/retinyl phosphate incubation is about 100-fold greater than in incubations containing 0.5% Triton X-100. In contrast with the lack of activity as a mannosyl acceptor for exogenous dolichyl phosphate in the present assay system, endogenous dolichyl phosphate clearly functions as an acceptor. Moreover in the same incubations a mannolipid with chromatographic properties of retinyl phosphate mannose was also synthesized from endogenous lipid acceptor. The biosynthesis of this mannolipid (retinyl phosphate mannose) was optimal at MnCl(2) concentrations between 5 and 10mm and could not be detected below 0.6mm-MnCl(2), when synthesis of dolichyl phosphate mannose from endogenous dolichyl phosphate was about 80% of optimal synthesis. Under optimal conditions (5mm-MnCl(2)) endogenous retinyl phosphate mannose represented about 20% of dolichyl phosphate mannose at 15min of incubation at 37 degrees C.

Particulate membrane fractions from pig brain catalyse the synthesis of lipid-linked sugar derivatives of the dolichyl phosphate pathway. Flavomycin, a phosphoglycolipid antibiotic produced by various species of streptomycetes, interferes with the formation of these glycolipids to a different extent. The formation of dolichyl phosphate glucose was shown to be most susceptible to the antibiotic, being blocked by about 50% in the presence of 0.2mm-flavomycin, whereas the synthesis of dolichyl diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine, dolichyl diphosphate chitobiose and dolichyl diphosphate chitobiosyl mannose required higher concentrations to achieve a comparable inhibition. Although the formation of dolichyl phosphate mannose was hardly affected, the accumulation of oligosaccharides with five to seven sugar units was observed, when dolichyl diphosphate oligosaccharides were synthesized with GDP-[(14)C]mannose in the presence of 1mm-flavomycin. This indicates that the inhibition of the synthesis of larger-sized oligosaccharides, known to be mediated by lipid-bound mannose, was not caused by an actual deficiency in dolichyl phosphate mannose. At flavomycin concentrations that inhibited the formation of dolichyl phosphate glucose by 50%, the transfer of lipid-linked saccharides to either the hexapeptide Tyr-Asn-Gly-Thr-Ser-Val or endogenous protein acceptors was hardly influenced. The mode of action of flavomycin is still obscure, but seems not to be of a competitive nature, since the inhibition was unaffected by increasing concentrations of dolichyl phosphate. Some evidence indicates that, besides a direct interaction of the antibiotic with some transferases, a non-specific incorporation into the membrane and alteration of its properties might be responsible for those inhibitory effects on all enzymes which were observed at high concentrations of flavomycin.

The subcellular distribution of the enzyme catalysing the conversion of retinyl phosphate and GDP-[14C]mannose into [14C]mannosyl retinyl phosphate was determined by using subcellular fractions of rat liver. Purity of fractions, as determined by marker enzymes, was 80% or better. The amount of mannosyl retinyl phosphate formed (pmol/min per mg of protein) for each fraction was: rough endoplasmic reticulum 0.48 +/- 0.09 (mean +/- S.D.); smooth membranes (consisting of 60% smooth endoplasmic reticulum and 40% Golgi apparatus), 0.18 +/- 0.03; Golgi apparatus, 0.13 +/- 0.03; and plasma membrane 0.02.

1. The transfer of mannose from GDP-(U-14-C)mannose into endogenous acceptors of bovine adrenal medullla and rat parotid was studied. The rapidly labelled product, a glycolipid, was partially purified and characterized. 2. It was stable to mild alkaline hydrolysis but yielded (14-C)mannose on mild acid hydrolysis. It co-chromatographed with mannosyl phosphoryl dolichol in four t.l.c. systems and on DEAE-cellulose acetate. Addition of dolichol phosphate or a dolichol phosphate-enriched fraction prepared from pig liver stimulated mannolipid synthesis. 3. The formation of mammolipid appeared reversible, since addition of GDP to a system synthesizing the mannolipid caused a rapid loss of label from the mannolipid. UDP-N-acetylglucosamine did not inhibit mannolipid synthesis except at high concentrations (2 mM), even though in the absence of GDP-mannose, N-acetylglucosamine was incorporated into a lipid having the properties of a glycosylated polyprenyl phosphate. 4. Mannose from GDP-mannose was also incorporated into two other acceptors, (2y being insoluble in chloroform-methanol (2:1, v/v) but soluble in choloroform-methanol-water (10:10:3, by vol.) and (ii) protein. These are formed much more slowly than the mannolipid. 5. Exogenous mannolipid served as a mannose donor for acceptors (i) and (ii), and it is suggested that transfer of mannose from GDP-mannose to mannosylated protein occurs via two intermediates, the mannolipid and acceptor (i).

Adult Brugia pahangi took up and incorporated beta-carotene and free retinol in vitro. The uptake of retinol was 50 times greater than that of beta-carotene under similar incubation conditions. beta-Carotene was almost entirely metabolized, primarily to retinol. The metabolism of retinol by B. pahangi in vitro was less extensive, with a variety of retinoids tentatively identified, including retinyl phosphate (Ret-P), retinyl phosphate mannose (Ret-P-Man) and anhydroretinol as minor metabolites. B. pahangi microsomes were also shown to biosynthesize Ret-P-Man from exogenous Ret-P and GDP-mannose, but not from endogenous lipid acceptors alone. In this circumstance an unidentified lipid appeared to be mannosylated by B. pahangi. The rate of mannose transfer to exogenous Ret-P by B. pahangi microsomes was 150 pmol X min -1. (mg of protein) -1. Ret-P-Man synthetase activity from both B. pahangi and rat liver microsomes had an absolute requirement for bovine serum albumin and MnCl2, and occurred in the absence of detergent. The results suggest a biochemical role for vitamin A in B. pahangi, possibly in filarial glycoprotein synthesis.

We investigated whether the polyenic and allylic phosphate systems of retinyl phosphate are essential for its mannosyl acceptor and donor activities in rat liver postnuclear membranes. Perhydromonoeneretinyl phosphate, a compound without growth-promoting activity in vitamin A-deficient animals, was prepared by catalytic hydrogenation of retinol and phosphorylation. Perhydromonoeneretinyl phosphate mannose synthesis from GDP-mannose showed continued accumulation for at least 60 min, while retinyl phosphate mannose synthesis showed a maximum at 20-30 min and then declined. Moreover, only retinyl phosphate stimulated transfer of mannose from GDP-mannose to endogenous proteins, which were separated by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Thus, hydrogenation of side-chain double bonds in retinyl phosphate impaired only slightly its mannosyl acceptor activity, but caused loss of mannosyl donor activity.

1. A lactating rabbit mammary-gland microsomal system catalysed the incorporation of mannose from GDP-[U-14C]mannose into three endogenous acceptors, (i) polyprenyl phosphate mannose, (ii) lipid-linked oligosaccharide and (iii) protein. 2. Synthesis of polyprenyl phosphate mannose was stimulated by addition of dolichol phosphate to the incubation medium and was reversed by addition of GDP. The product had properties identical with those of authentic dolichol phosphate mannose. 3. The oligosaccharides derived from acid hydrolysis of the lipid-linked oligosaccharide fraction were of six, eight and nine to ten monosaccharide units, the octasaccharide being the major species formed. The oligosaccharide appeared to be attached to the lipid via a pyrophosphate bridge, since strong alkaline hydrolysis liberated an oligosaccharide phosphate. 4. Polyprenyl phosphate mannose served as a mannose donor to lipid-linked oligosaccharides and protein. When added as exogenous substrate it gave rise to a lipid-linked oligosaccharide of about six units. 5. Incorporation of radioactivity in protein was low, but polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis of the protein fractions indicated that polypeptides of mol.wts. 115000, 75000 and 33000 were labelled.

Of the subcellular fractions of rat liver the endoplasmic reticulum was the most active in GDP-mannose: retinyl phosphate mannosyl-transfer activity. The synthesis of retinyl phosphate mannose reached a maximum at 20-30 min of incubation and declined at later times. Retinyl phosphate mannose and dolichyl phosphate mannose from endogenous retinyl phosphate and dolichyl phosphate could also be assayed in the endoplasmic reticulum. About 1.8 ng (5 pmol) of endogenous retinyl phosphate was mannosylated per mg of endoplasmic reticulum protein (15 min at 37 degrees C, in the presence of 5 mM-MnCl2), and about 0.15 ng (0.41 pmol) of endogenous retinyl phosphate was mannosylated with Golgi-apparatus membranes. About 20 ng (13.4 pmol) of endogenous dolichyl phosphate was mannosylated in endoplasmic reticulum and 4.5 ng (3 pmol) in Golgi apparatus under these conditions. Endoplasmic reticulum, but not Golgi-apparatus membranes, catalysed significant transfer of [14C]mannose to endogenous acceptor proteins in the presence of exogenous retinyl phosphate. Mannosylation of endogenous acceptors in the presence of exogenous dolichyl phosphate required the presence of Triton X-100 and could not be detected when dolichyl phosphate was solubilized in liposomes. Dolichyl phosphate mainly stimulated the incorporation of mannose into the lipid-oligosaccharide-containing fraction, whereas retinyl phosphate transferred mannose directly to protein.

Hamster liver microsomal membranes catalyse the synthesis of retinyl phosphate mannose (Ret-P-Man) from GDP-mannose and exogenous retinyl phosphate (Ret-P). We have previously shown that maximal Ret-P-Man synthesis occurs in vitro at 20-30 min, followed by a subsequent loss of mannose from Ret-P-Man, suggestive of an intermediary function of Ret-P-Man and/or Ret-P-Man breakdown [Shidoji, Silverman-Jones & De Luca (1982) Biochem. J. 208, 865-868; Creek, Morre, Silverman-Jones, Shidoji & De Luca (1983) Biochem. J. 210, 541-547). To monitor Ret-P-Man synthesis and breakdown carefully, we developed a chromatographic system in which mannose, Ret-P-Man, mannose phosphate and GDP-mannose are separated in a single analysis on a Mono Q column eluted with a gradient of NaCl. Using this chromatographic system, we have determined that 80-90% of the Ret-P-Man made in vitro by hamster liver membranes in 30 min is recovered with the membranes upon centrifugation. Subsequent incubation of Ret-P-Man-loaded membranes at 37 degrees C results in a non-enzymic breakdown of Ret-P-Man to beta-mannopyranosyl phosphate and anhydroretinol. However, incubation of the Ret-P-Man-loaded hamster liver membranes with GDP, but not GMP, ADP, CDP or UDP, results in a loss of mannose from Ret-P-Man and the formation of GDP-mannose and Ret-P. These results demonstrate that Ret-P-Man synthesized in vitro is subject to non-enzymic breakdown to beta-mannopyranosyl phosphate and anhydroretinol and that the GDP-mannose:retinyl phosphate mannosyltransferase reaction is reversible.

Our previous work has shown that phenyl phosphate acts as an exogenous substrate for GDP-mannose:dolichyl phosphate mannosyltransferase in rat liver microsomal fractions to give rise to phenyl phosphate beta-D-mannose, a compound which, unlike Dol-P-Man (dolichyl phosphate beta-D-mannose), cannot act as mannose donor for further mannose-adding reactions in microsomal fractions. The study has now been extended to the action of various aryl phosphates and structurally related compounds on several other glycosyltransferase systems in the microsomal fractions. (1) Examination of the ability of these compounds to accept sugars from various sugar nucleotides indicated that the individual compounds have specificity as sugar acceptors. Thus phenyl phosphate acted as an effective acceptor for both mannose and glucose, whereas benzenephosphonic acid was active only in accepting mannose. p-Nitrophenyl phosphate was a more effective glucose acceptor than phenyl phosphate, but had only 8% of the mannose-accepting activity of phenyl phosphate. (2) Phenyl phosphate had an inhibitory effect on the transfer of mannose form GDP-mannose to lipid-linked oligosaccharides and to glycoproteins in rat liver microsomal fractions. The inhibition depended on the concentration of phenyl phosphate and on the extent of inhibition of Dol-P-Man synthesis. It is proposed that phenyl phosphate has a direct effect on the synthesis of Dol-P-Man and that its inhibition of synthesis of lipid-linked oligosaccharides and glycoproteins could be a consequence of this effect.

A remarkable and immediate decrease in GDP-mannose:retinyl phosphate mannosyltransferase activity was found on pre-incubation of rat liver postnuclear membranes with phospholipase A2 or phospholipase C. Under the same conditions of pre-incubation (1 min at 37 degrees C) trypsin did not affect the enzyme activity, whereas pre-incubation for 30 min with trypsin and Pronase abolished enzyme activity. The lipid extract of untreated rat liver membranes partially restored enzyme activity after phospholipase treatment. Sphingomyelin was as active as the endogenous lipids. Other phospholipids were less active in the following order: phosphatidylcholine greater than phosphatidylethanolamine greater than phosphatidylinositol = phosphatidylserine. Dolichyl phosphate mannose synthesis was inhibited less (33%) by phospholipase C than was Ret-P-Man synthesis (98.5%) under identical conditions of incubation, which included 0.025% Triton. However, retinyl phosphate mannose synthesis by purified endoplasmic reticulum was found to be resistant to phospholipase C. Mixing experiments failed to demonstrate an inhibitory effect of the phospholipase-treated postnuclear membrane fraction on the synthetic activity of the endoplasmic reticulum, thus excluding the release of an inhibitory factor from the postnuclear membranes.

The transfer, catalysed by pig liver microsomal preparations, of mannose, from GDP-mannose, to lipid-linked oligosaccharides and the properties of the products are described. Solubility, hydrolytic and chromatographic data suggest that they are dolichol diphosphate derivatives. The presence of two N-acetyl groups in at least part of the heterogenous oligosaccharide portion was tentatively deduced. Reduction with borohydride of the oligosaccharide showed that the newly added mannose residues were not at its reducing end. Periodate oxidation suggested that 60% of these were at the non-reducing terminus and that 40% were positioned internally. T.l.c. showed the presence of seven oligosaccharide fractions with chromatographic mobilities corresponding to glucose oligomers with 7-13 residues. The molar proportions of the oligosaccharide fractions in the mixture were determined by borotritiide reduction and the number of mannose residues added to each oligosaccharide fraction during the incubation was calculated. Two of the oligosaccharide fractions had received on average one, or slightly more than one, mannose residue per chain during the incubation; four of the other fractions were each shown to be a mixture, 20-25% of which had received one mannose residue during the incubation and 75-80% of which had not been mannosylated during the incubation. This supported other evidence for the presence of endogenous lipid-linked oligosaccharides in the microsomal preparation which had been formed before the incubation in vitro. Evidence for the possibility of two pools of dolichol monophosphate mannose, one being more closely associated with mannosyl transfer to dolichol diphosphate oligosaccharides than the other, is also discussed.