N-linked glycosylation in Campylobacter jejuni and its functional transfer into E. coli

Science. 2002 Nov 29;298(5599):1790-3. doi: 10.1126/science.298.5599.1790.

Abstract

N-linked protein glycosylation is the most abundant posttranslation modification of secretory proteins in eukaryotes. A wide range of functions are attributed to glycan structures covalently linked to asparagine residues within the asparagine-X-serine/threonine consensus sequence (Asn-Xaa-Ser/Thr). We found an N-linked glycosylation system in the bacterium Campylobacter jejuni and demonstrate that a functional N-linked glycosylation pathway could be transferred into Escherichia coli. Although the bacterial N-glycan differs structurally from its eukaryotic counterparts, the cloning of a universal N-linked glycosylation cassette in E. coli opens up the possibility of engineering permutations of recombinant glycan structures for research and industrial applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Campylobacter jejuni / genetics
  • Campylobacter jejuni / metabolism*
  • Carbohydrate Conformation
  • Cloning, Molecular*
  • Conjugation, Genetic
  • Consensus Sequence
  • Escherichia coli / genetics*
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Escherichia coli Proteins*
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • Genetic Complementation Test
  • Glycoproteins / chemistry
  • Glycoproteins / metabolism*
  • Glycosylation
  • Glycosyltransferases / genetics
  • Glycosyltransferases / metabolism
  • Lipoproteins / genetics
  • Lipoproteins / isolation & purification
  • Lipoproteins / metabolism
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Models, Biological
  • Mutation
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial / biosynthesis
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Transformation, Bacterial

Substances

  • AcrA protein, E coli
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • Glycoproteins
  • Lipoproteins
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Glycosyltransferases