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Siglecs (sialic acid binding Ig-like lectins) are transmembrane receptors for sialylated glycoconjugates that modulate cellular interactions and signalling events in the haematopoietic, immune and nervous systems. Siglec-7 is a structural prototype for the recently described family of immune inhibitory CD33-related siglecs and is predominantly expressed on natural killer cells and monocytes, as well as subsets of CD8 T-cells. Siglec-specific inhibitors are desired for the detection of masked and unmasked forms of siglecs, to aid in dissection of signalling pathways and as tools to investigate siglecs as potential therapeutic targets. As a first step towards this end, we present the crystal structure of siglec-7 in complex with a sialylated ligand, the ganglioside analogue DSLc4 [alpha(2,3)/alpha(2,6) disialyl lactotetraosyl 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethyl], which allows for a detailed description of the binding site, required for structure-guided inhibitor design. Mutagenesis and binding assays were used to demonstrate a key structural role for Lys131, a residue that changes conformation upon sialic acid binding. Differences between the binding sites of siglec family members were then exploited using alpha-methyl Neu5Ac (N-acetylneuraminic acid) as a basic scaffold. A co-crystal of siglec-7 in complex with the sialoside inhibitor, oxamido-Neu5Ac [methyl alpha-9-(amino-oxalyl-amino)-9-deoxy-Neu5Ac] and inhibition data for the sialosides gives clear leads for future inhibitor design.

Sialic acids as terminal residues of oligosaccharide chains play crucial roles in several cellular recognition events. Exploiting the selective affinity of Achatinin-H toward N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid-alpha2-6-GalNAc, we have demonstrated the presence of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoproteins (Neu5,9Ac(2)-GPs) on lymphoblasts of 70 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and on leukemic cell lines by fluorimetric HPLC and flow cytometric analysis. This study aims to assess the structural aspect of the glycotope of Neu5,9Ac(2)-GPs(ALL) and to evaluate whether these disease-specific molecules can be used to monitor the clinical outcome of ALL. The Neu5,9Ac(2)-GPs(ALL) were affinity-purified, and three distinct leukemia-specific molecular determinants (135, 120, and 90 kDa) were demonstrated by SDS-PAGE, western blotting, and isoelectric focusing. The carbohydrate epitope of Neu5,9Ac(2)-GPs(ALL) was confirmed by using synthetic sialic acid analogs. The enhanced presence of anti-Neu5,9Ac(2)-GP(ALL) antibody in ALL patients prompted us to develop an antigen-ELISA using purified Neu5,9Ac(2)-GPs(ALL) as coating antigens. Purified antigen was able to detect leukemia-specific antibodies at presentation of disease, which gradually decreased with treatment. Longitudinal monitoring of 18 patients revealed that in the early phase of the treatment patients with lower anti-Neu5,9Ac(2)-GPs showed a better prognosis. Minimal cross-reactivity was observed in other hematological disorders (n = 50) like chronic myeloid leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as well as normal healthy individuals (n = 21). This study demonstrated the potential of purified Neu5,9Ac(2)-GPs(ALL) as an alternate tool for detection of anti-Neu5,9Ac(2)-GP antibodies to be helpful for diagnosis and monitoring of childhood ALL patients.

Sialic acids are critical components of many glycoconjugates involved in biologically important ligand-receptor interactions. Quantitative and structural variations of sialic acid residues can profoundly affect specific cell-cell, pathogen-cell, or drug-cell interactions, but manipulation of sialic acids in mammalian cells has been technically limited. We describe the finding of a previously unrecognized and efficient uptake and incorporation of sialic acid analogues in mammalian cells. We added 16 synthetic sialic acid analogues carrying distinct C-1, C-5, or C-9 substitutions individually to cell cultures of which 10 were readily taken up and incorporated. Uptake of C-5- and C-9-substituted sialic acids resulted in the structural modification of up to 95% of sialic acids on the cell surface. Functionally, binding of murine sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-2 (Siglec-2, CD22) to cells increased after N-glycolylneuraminic acid treatment, whereas 9-iodo-N-acetylneuraminic acid abolished binding. Furthermore, susceptibility to infection by the B-lymphotropic papovavirus via a sialylated receptor was markedly enhanced following pretreatment of host cells with selected sialic acid analogues including 9-iodo-N-acetylneuraminic acid. This novel experimental strategy allows for an efficient biosynthetic engineering of surface sialylation in living cells. It is versatile, extending the repertoire of modification sites at least to C-9 and enables detailed structure-function studies of sialic acid-dependent ligand-receptor interactions in their native context.

The specificity of the sialic acid-binding lectin from ovine placenta was examined in detail by haemagglutination inhibition assays applying a panel of 32 synthetic sialic acid analogues. The carboxylic acid group is a prerequisite for the interaction with the lectin, the alpha-anomer of the methyl glycoside is only a little more effective as an inhibitor than the beta-anomer and the most potent inhibitor was 9-deoxy-10-carboxylic acid Neu5Ac, followed by 4-oxo-Neu5Ac. In contrast to the majority of known sialic acid-binding lectins, the N-acetyl group of Neu5Ac is not indispensable for binding, neither is the hydroxyl group at C-9 since substitutions at this carbon atom are well tolerated. Furthermore, all sulfur-containing substituents at C-9 enhanced the affinity of the lectin. This is the first sialic acid-binding lectin found to strongly bind thio derivatives.

The siglecs, formerly called sialoadhesins, are a family of I-type lectins binding to sialic acids on the cell surface. Five members of this family have been identified: sialoadhesin, myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), Schwann cell myelin protein (SMP), CD22 and CD33. We have investigated the relevance of substituents at position C-9 and in the N-acetyl group of N-acetylneuraminic acid, using a series of synthetic sialic-acid analogues either on resialylated human erythrocytes or as free alpha-glycosides in hapten inhibition. All five siglecs require the hydroxy group at C-9 for binding, suggesting hydrogen bonding of this substituent with the binding site. Remarkable differences were found among the proteins in their specificity for modifications of the N-acetyl group. Whereas sialoadhesin, MAG and SMP do not tolerate a hydroxy group as in N-glycolylneuraminic acid, they bind to halogenated acetyl residues. In the case of MAG, N-fluoroacetylneuraminic acid is bound about 17-fold better than N-acetylneuraminic acid. In contrast, human and murine CD22 both show good affinity for N-glycolylneuraminic acid, but only human CD22 bound the halogenated compounds. In conclusion, our data indicate that interactions of the hydroxy group at position 9 and the N-acyl substituent contribute significantly to the binding strength.

We have previously shown that alpha-2-O-methyl-5-N-thioacetylneuraminic acid (alpha-Neu5thioAc2Me) has a higher affinity to bromelain-treated hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza A virus than sialic acid from natural sources (Machytka et al., 1993, FEBS Lett. 334, 117-120). We have now compared the inhibitory effects of alpha-Neu5thioAc2Me and other sialic acid analogs on receptor binding and plaque formation of intact influenza A viruses. When alpha-Neu5thioAc2Me was polymerized by conjugation to polyacrylamide, its affinity to HA increased 10(3)-fold. When analyzed by plaque reduction, the alpha-Neu5thioAc2 polymer was about 10 times more efficient as an inhibitor of virus replication than the alpha-Neu5Ac2 polymer, stressing the importance of sulfur at C5. The S-glycoside alpha-2-S-methyl-5-N-thioacetylneuraminic acid (alpha-Neu5thioAc2SMe) had the same affinity to HA as alpha-Neu5thioAc2Me, but was resistant to neuraminidase. The alpha-Neu5thioAc2S polymer interfered with the replication of a wider spectrum of influenza A virus subtypes than the alpha-Neu5thioAc2 polymer. The results indicate that the alpha-Neu5thioAc2S polymer has the potential to be used as an inhibitor of influenza virus infection.

The binding of influenza A virus hemagglutinin to its cell surface receptor, alpha-linked 5-N-acetylneuraminic acid (sialic acid), was studied in solution. The effect of structural modifications introduced into the N-acetyl group of the sialic acid on the binding was monitored by determining the dissociation constants by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy. Methyl alpha-glycoside of N-thioacetylneuraminic acid showed high, whereas the corresponding N-methylcarbamoylneuraminic acid exhibited relatively low binding affinity towards the hemagglutinin.

We describe a synthetic sialic acid analogue, 9-thioacetamido-N-acetylneuraminic acid (9-thioacetamido-Neu5Ac), which is recognized by the receptor-binding activity of influenza C virus, but is resistant to the receptor-destroying enzyme (acetylesterase) of this virus. Following transfer of the analogue to the surface of receptor-negative cells, influenza C virus is able to attach to these cells, but is unable to infect the cells. This result suggests that inactivation of virus receptors by the receptor-destroying enzyme is essential for initiation of infection. Because of their unique properties such analogues promise to be powerful chemotherapeutic agents.