Functions of Fucosylated N-glycan

Fucose is an atypical monosaccharide found in some marine organisms that can be attached to GlcNAc residues via α(1→3) or α(1→6) bonds to form fucosylated N-glycans. Cell surface fucosylation of N-glycans is a post-translational modification process that adds fucosylated residues to proteins on the cell surface. Fucosylation can affect protein structure, stability, function, and interactions. Fucosylation is also involved in cellular signaling, cell adhesion, immune recognition, and developmental regulation. Fucosylated N-glycans have an important role in the immune system, and they can regulate the expression and function of immune checkpoint molecules, among others.

Cell Surface Fucosylated Type N-glycan Glycoengineering Service at CD BioGlyco

Fucosylated N-glycans on the cell surface are involved in the regulation of life activities in vertebrates or mammals. At CD BioGlyco, we have a complete Cell Surface Glycoengineering Platform and specialized Cell Surface Glycoengineering Techniques. We will provide a wide range of cell surface fucosylated N-glycans of glycoengineering services.

• Fucosylated N-glycans structure identification service
  CD BioGlyco will use phenylhydrazine (PHN) labeling in tandem mode to study the structure of fucosylated N-glycans on the cell surface by tandem MALDI mass spectrometry (MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
  
  • PHN labeling: affects the generation of specific ion types
  • MS/MS + HPLC: provide specific structural information
• Fucosylated N-glycan editing service
  We will provide a two-step chemoenzymatic method for selective editing of fucosylated type N-glycan isoforms on the surface of living cells. The specific steps are:
  
  • "Deletion" step
    Removal of heterogeneous N-glycan isoforms of specific subclasses
  • "Insert" step
    Assembling the definitive N-glycan back into the pre-treated sugar site

Such sugar-edited cells, carrying more homogeneous sugar structures, allow a precise understanding of glycan-mediated biological functions. Examples include cell-cell communication, membrane protein transport, pathogen invasion, and immune response.

Fig.1 Fucosylated N-glycans on offer. (CD BioGlyco)

Publication

• Paper Title: Applicability of phenylhydrazine labeling for structural studies of fucosylated N-glycans.
• Technology: Phenylhydrazine labelling
• Journal: Analytical Chemistry
• Published: 2019
• Results: In this study, the authors used phenylhydrazine (PHN) labeling to analyze the structure of N-glycans by tandem MALDI-MS in positive ion mode. The characterization of N-glycan fragments by tandem MALDI-MS is represented in the figure below. When there was no focus on the disaccharide core, the abundant fragment ions associated with glycosidic cleavage at the highest m/z values were associated with a loss of 311 Da and 295 Da, corresponding to the loss of GlcNAcPHN residues in the parent ion. However, when the glycan was core-focused, the same type of cleavage was associated with a loss of FucGlcNAcPHN, with typical precursor ion losses of 457 Da and 441 Da. In this spectrum, no additional fragments corresponding to the 311 and 295 Da (GlcNAcPHN residues) deletions in the precursor ion were detected. Thus, it is confirmed that the focused glycan is attached only to the core region, and it also provides the opportunity to identify the core focus.

Fig.2 MALDI-TOF/TOF tandem mass spectra recorded for the complex biantennary N-glycans. (Lattová, et al., 2019)

Applications

• Cell surface fucosylated type N-glycan glycoengineering can be applied to analyze the structure of various glycans and oligosaccharides.
• In the pharmaceutical field, the N-glycans glycoengineering services can be applied to the development of drugs with the ability to modulate physiological activities (growth and development, immunomodulation, etc.) in vertebrates or mammals.
• Fucosylated N-glycans are an important part of the glycomics platform, which applies to in-depth exploration of the functions of N-glycans in biomedical systems.

Highlights

• Our service allows for the analysis of glycans of different structures, thus enabling researchers to further explore the biological functions of glycans.
• The specialized glycoengineering platform allows comprehensive analysis and modification of different types of N-glycans.

CD BioGlyco has a complete glycoengineering platform and is skilled in the glycoengineering technique of N-glycans. We provide each client with structural analysis and editing of cell surface fucosylated N-glycans. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us.