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Bifidobacteria possess a unique genomic capability for N-glycan cleavage. Recombinantly producing these enzymes would be a promising novel tool to release bioactive N-glycans from glycoprotein-rich substrates such as colostrum.
Protein glycosylation is a diverse and common post-translational modification that has been associated with many important roles such as protein function, including protein folding, stability, enzymatic protection, and biological recognition. N-glycans attached to glycoproteins (such as lactoferrin, lactadherin, and immunoglobulins) cannot be digested by the host and reach the large intestine, where they are consumed by certain beneficial microbes. Therefore, they are considered next-generation prebiotic compounds that can selectively stimulate the gut microbiome's beneficial microorganisms. However, the isolation of these new classes of prebiotics requires novel enzymes. Here, we describe the recombinant production of novel glycosidases from different Bifidobacteria strains (isolated from infants, rabbits, chicken, and bumblebee) for improved N-glycan isolation from glycoproteins. The method presented in this study includes the following steps: molecular cloning of Bifidobacterial genes by an in vivo recombinational cloning strategy, control of transformation success, protein induction, and protein purification.
Glycosylation is a very crucial post-translational modification observed in proteins. Approximately more than 50% of proteins are found in their glycosylated forms in eukaryotes. N- and O-glycosylation are the two major types of glycosylation1,2. O-linked glycans (O-glycans) are covalently attached to proteins via N-acetylgalactosamine to the hydroxyl group of a serine (Ser) or threonine (Thr) amino acid residues. N-linked glycans (N-glycans) are complex oligosaccharides, which are covalently attached to asparagine (Asn) amino acid residue of the proteins through N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) in a particular amino acid sequence AsN-X-Ser/Thr and a less common one, AsN-X-Cys (cysteine) (where X might be any amino acid except proline)3,4. The basic N-glycan core consists of two HexNAc and three mannose residues. Further elongation of this common core with other monosaccharides via glycosyltransferase and glycosidase enzymes determines the type of N-glycans based on the degree of branching and the type of linkage5. N-glycans are generally grouped into three main classes: high mannose (HM), complex type (CT), and hybrid (HY)6.
N-glycans are indigestible compounds by the host organisms due to the lack of glycoside hydrolase enzymes. These compounds reach the small/large intestine in an undigested form where thousands of different bacterial species utilize them, and they can act as prebiotics by promoting specialized gut microbes, especially Bifidobacterium species7. Recent findings showed that N-glycans selectively stimulate the growth of certain bacterial species8,9. N-glycans released from bovine milk glycoproteins selectively stimulated the growth of Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis (B. infantis), which is a crucial Bifidobacterial species in the infant's gut, but other bifidobacterial species such as Bifidobacterium animalis (B. animalis) did not utilize these compounds9. In addition, a recent in vivo study demonstrated that 19 unique N-glycans from milk lactoferrin and immunoglobulins selectively stimulate the growth of B. infantis8. Especially, B. infantis possess a genomic capability for glycan cleavage and metabolism. An Endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (EndoBI-1), which belongs to glycosyl hydrolase family 18, recombinantly produced from B. infantis ATCC 15697 showed a high activity on milk glycoproteins in in vitro conditions9,10. This novel glycoside hydrolase enzyme can cleave the N-N′-diacetylchitobiose parts found in the N-glycans10,11. The activity of EndoBI-1 is not affected by core fucosylation and different reaction conditions such as high temperature, pH, reaction time, etc3,11,12. This unique characteristic of Bifidobacterial glycoside hydrolases provides a promising tool for producing N-glycans from glycoprotein-rich substrates such as bovine colostrum13,14.
Several chemically and enzymatically developed deglycosylation methods have been widely used to obtain N-glycans and O-glycans from glycoproteins2,15. Chemical methods are widely used in glycobiology for deglycosylation of glycoproteins because of their ease of use, low cost, and high substrate specificity16. The most common chemical deglycosylation methods are β-elimination and hydrazination17. Among these methods, β-elimination is based on the principle of cleavage of glycans from glycoproteins by exposure of glycoproteins to alkaline conditions. The released glycans can be degraded during the process due to the β-elimination reactions, but this problem can be prevented using reducing agents such as sodium borohydride (NaBH4)18,19,20. There are different limitations in the β-elimination method. The reductive agents convert glycans to alditols, prevent them from binding a fluorophore or chromophore. Thus, challenging to monitor glycan release becomes difficult19,20. Because of the high salt content in the cleaning step of the method, elution might result in sample losses20. Another method for releasing glycan from glycoproteins is the hydrazine method based on the principle of the hydrolysis reaction following the addition of anhydrous hydrazine to the glycoprotein. Since it allows for controlling the isolation of glycans by changing reaction conditions such as temperature, the hydrazination method has been widely used in glycobiology21. Chemical deglycosylation can also be carried out using the anhydrous formulation of hydrogen fluoride and trifluoroacetic acid, in addition to other chemical deglycosylation methods16,22,23. The enzymatic release of N-glycans from glycoproteins is commonly performed by peptidyl-N-glycosidases (PNGases) that generally release N-glycans, regardless of their size and charge24,25,26,27. Similar to the chemical deglycosylation methods, the enzymatic deglycosylation process has different challenges. PNGases show activity in the presence of several detergents used, which increase the enzyme accessibility to the glycans. However, these harsh treatments might disrupt the native glycans and the remaining polypeptide structures28. PNGases may not cleave the glycans when there is a fucose linked to N-acetylglucosamine29. Various endoglycosidases such as F1, F2, and F3 show more activity on the native proteins than PNGases. These endoglycosidases have low activity on the multiple-antennary glycans, whereas heat-resistant novel EndoBI-1 is effective in all types of N-glycans10,11,28. Regarding the limitations of the current methods, it is obvious that novel enzymes are still required for an effective glycan release without any restrictions. For this purpose, Bifidobacterial species, which have a large genomic island encoding various glycoside hydrolases enzymes, enable cleaving N-glycans from glycoproteins30,31. Within the scope of this context, the overall aim of this study is to discover new glycosidases from the various Bifidobacterial species. To recombinantly produce these enzymes, different fusion tags are intended to enhance their production as well as their activity.
1. Molecular cloning of Bifidobacterial genes
2. L-rhamnose induction of protein expression
3. Cell lysis of chemically competent E. coli cells containing His-tagged enzymes
4. Purification of His-tagged enzymes by batch method
Glycosyl hydrolase member enzymes selected from different origins were targeted in this study. It was assumed that the co-application of different enzymes with different structures could provide a better glycan release since they are evolved to be active in different glycoproteins. The list of target genes and their origin is listed in Table 1. Bacterial strains were obtained from Belgium Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms. Primer sets were designed based on the manufacturer's guidelines (
The in vivo recombinational cloning strategy used for the molecular cloning of the target genes provides fast and reliable results compared to other traditional cloning protocols. Even though there are many convenient methods for molecular cloning, the method described in this article has more advantages. In vivo cloning system, unlike other cloning systems, does not need any enzymatic treatment or purification of the PCR products. Also, there is no limitation related to sequence junctions or the requir...
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This study is supported by TUBITAK #118z146 and Uluova Süt Ticaret A.Ş (Uluova Milk Trading Co.).
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
EconoTaq PLUS 2X Master Mix | Lucigen | 30035-1 | Amplification of target genes (PCR) |
DNase/RNase-free distilled water | Invitrogen | 10977035 | Amplification of target genes (PCR) |
Safe-Red Loading Dye | abm | G108-R | DNA gel electrophoresis |
1 kb Plus DNA Ladder | GoldBio | D011-500 | DNA gel electrophoresis |
Qubit protein assay kit | Invitrogen | Q33211 | Measurement of DNA concentration |
LB Broth, Miller (Luria-Bertani) | amresco | J106-2KG | Bacterial culture media |
Agarose | Invitrogen | 16500-500 | Bacterial culture mediaet al. |
Kanamycin Monosulfate | GoldBio | K-120-5 | Antibiotic in bacterial culture media |
Expresso Rhamnose Cloning and Expression System Kit, N-His | Lucigen | 49011-1 | Cloning Kit |
Expresso Rhamnose Cloning and Expression System Kit, SUMO | Lucigen | 49013-1 | Cloning Kit |
Expresso Rhamnose Cloning and Expression System Kit, C-His | Lucigen | 49012-1 | Cloning Kit |
Glycerol Solution | Sigma-Aldrich | 15524-1L-R | Preparation of glycerol stock |
L-Rhamnose monohydrate | Sigma-Aldrich | 83650 | Induction of protein expression |
2X Laemmli Sample Buffer | ClearBand | TGS10 | SDS-Page analysis |
SureCast 40% (w/v) Acrylamide | Invitrogen | HC2040 | SDS-Page analysis |
SureCast APS | Invitrogen | HC2005 | SDS-Page analysis |
SureCast TEMED | Invitrogen | HC2006 | SDS-Page analysis |
10X Running Buffer | ClearBand | TGS10 | SDS-Page analysis |
Triset al. | BioShop | TRS001.1 | SDS-Page analysis and cell lysis |
10% SDS | ClearBand | S100 | SDS-Page analysis |
PageRuler Plus Prestained Protein Ladder | ThermoFisher | 26619 | SDS-Page analysis |
Imidazole | Sigma-Aldrich | 56750 | Cell lysis |
NaCl | Sigma-Aldrich | 31434-5Kg-R | Cell lysis |
Sodium Phosphate Monobasic Anhydrous | amresco | 0571-1Kg | Sodium phosphate buffer for cell lysis |
Sodium Phosphate Dibasic Dihydrateet al. | Sigma-Aldrich | 04272-1Kg | Sodium phosphate buffer for cell lysis |
10-kDa-cut-off centrifugal filter | Amicon®- MERCK | UFC9010 | Purification of enzymes |
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