g(m1)-ganglioside and metaperiodate

Legionnaire's disease is caused by the intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila, presenting as an acute pneumonia. Attachment is the key step during infection, often relying on an interaction between host cell oligosaccharides and bacterial adhesins. Inhibition of this interaction by receptor mimics offers possible novel therapeutic treatments. L. pneumophila attachment to the A549 cell line was significantly reduced by treatment with tunicamycin (73.6%) and sodium metaperiodate (63.7%). This indicates the importance of cell surface oligosaccharide chains in adhesion. A number of putative anti-adhesion compounds inhibited attachment to the A549 and U937 cell lines. The most inhibitory compounds were polymeric saccharides, GalNAcbeta1-4Gal, Galbeta1-4GlcNAc and para-nitrophenol. These compounds inhibited adhesion to a range of human respiratory cell lines, including nasal epithelial, bronchial epithelial and alveolar epithelial cell lines and the human monocytic cell line, U937. Some eukaryotic receptors for L. pneumophila were determined to be the glycolipids, asialo-GM1 and asialo-GM2 that contain the inhibitory saccharide moiety, GalNAcbeta1-4Gal. The identified compounds have the potential to be used as novel treatments for Legionnaire's disease.

Topics: Adhesins, Bacterial; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacterial Adhesion; Cell Line; Colony Count, Microbial; Epithelial Cells; G(M1) Ganglioside; Gangliosides; Glycolipids; Glycosphingolipids; Humans; Kinetics; Legionella pneumophila; Molecular Sequence Data; Monocytes; Oligosaccharides; Periodic Acid; Receptors, Cell Surface; Respiratory Mucosa; Time Factors; Tunicamycin; U937 Cells

Human choriogonadotropin (hCG) is a glycoprotein hormone that activates adenylyl cyclase. The carbohydrate moieties of hCG are required for biological activity, but not for binding to the gonadotropin receptors. We modified N-acetylneuraminic acid (NeuAc) on the oligosaccharide moieties of hCG, and determined the effect on its biological activity by measuring hormone-stimulated adenylyl cyclase. Treating hCG with sodium periodate to remove two carbon atoms from NeuAc or quantitatively removing NeuAc from hCG reduced its biological activity by 36% and 50%, respectively. The galactose residues of asialo-hCG were reacted with NeuAc-hydrazone or a hydrazone of the oligosaccharide from the ganglioside GM1 (Gal(beta 1-3)GalNAc(beta 1-4) [NeuAc(alpha 2-3)]Gal(beta 1-4)Glc). The gonadotropin receptor had high affinity for both derivatives, but their biological activity was less than that of hCG. These results suggest that several structural aspects of NeuAc including carbon side chain, an intact ring structure, and the position of NeuAc relative to other carbohydrate residues are important for full biological activity of hCG.

Topics: Adenylyl Cyclases; Animals; Asialoglycoproteins; Carbohydrate Conformation; Carbohydrate Sequence; Carbohydrates; Cell Line; Cholera Toxin; Chorionic Gonadotropin; Enzyme Activation; G(M1) Ganglioside; Galactose Oxidase; Glycosylation; Molecular Sequence Data; N-Acetylneuraminic Acid; Oxidation-Reduction; Periodic Acid; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Sialic Acids; Signal Transduction

The hippocampal slices were incubated with compounds which hydrolyze, modify or bind with sialic acid containing molecules. The efficiency of synaptic transmission was tested in the presence of these compounds. The size of the evoked extracellularly recorded potential following Schaffer collateral stimulation was used as an indicator of synaptic transmission efficiency. Sodium periodate (10 mM) and sodium perchlorate (59.2 mM) evoked a reversible (after washout) decrease in the size of the population spike. Higher concentration of sodium periodate (60 mM) abolished the size of the population spike, which was only poorly reversible after washout. Tetanus toxin, which binds to polysialogangliosides, and neuraminidase from Vibrio cholerae (an enzyme which splits off sialic acid from polysialogangliosides, leaving GM1 intact, and splits off sialic acid from sialoglycoproteins) had no influence on the size of the population spike. Cholera toxin, which binds to GM1, slightly reduced the size of the population spike. Incubation of the slices with neuraminidase from Arthrobacter ureafaciens (an enzyme which splits off sialic acid from all gangliosides, including GM1, and from sialoglycoproteins) abolished the population spike after 5 h. GM1 antiserum abolished the potential after approximately 100 min. The conclusion is drawn that of all gangliosides only GM1 is necessary to support synaptic transmission in Schaffer collateral-pyramidal cell synapses.

Topics: Animals; Evoked Potentials; G(M1) Ganglioside; Hippocampus; Immune Sera; Neuraminidase; Perchlorates; Periodic Acid; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Sodium Compounds; Synapses; Synaptic Transmission; Tetanus Toxin; Time Factors