Identification of functional elements of the GDP-fucose transporter SLC35C1 using a novel Chinese hamster ovary mutant

Glycobiology. 2012 Jul;22(7):897-911. doi: 10.1093/glycob/cws064. Epub 2012 Apr 6.

Abstract

The GDP-fucose transporter SLC35C1 critically regulates the fucosylation of glycans. Elucidation of its structure-function relationships remains a challenge due to the lack of an appropriate mutant cell line. Here we report a novel Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) mutant, CHO-gmt5, generated by the zinc-finger nuclease technology, in which the Slc35c1 gene was knocked out from a previously reported CHO mutant that has a dysfunctional CMP-sialic acid transporter (CST) gene (Slc35a1). Consequently, CHO-gmt5 harbors double genetic defects in Slc35a1 and Slc35c1 and produces N-glycans deficient in both sialic acid and fucose. The structure-function relationships of SLC35C1 were studied using CHO-gmt5 cells. In contrast to the CST and UDP-galactose transporter, the C-terminal tail of SLC35C1 is not required for its Golgi localization but is essential for generating glycans that are recognized by a fucose-binding lectin, Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL), suggesting an important role in the transport activity of SLC35C1. Furthermore, we found that this impact can be independently contributed by a cluster of three lysine residues and a Glu-Met (EM) sequence within the C terminus. We also showed that the conserved glycine residues at positions 180 and 277 of SLC35C1 have significant impacts on AAL binding to CHO-gmt5 cells, suggesting that these conserved glycine residues are required for the transport activity of Slc35 proteins. The absence of sialic acid and fucose on Fc N-glycan has been independently shown to enhance the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) effect. By combining these features into one cell line, we postulate that CHO-gmt5 may represent a more advantageous cell line for the production of recombinant antibodies with enhanced ADCC effect.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • CHO Cells
  • Carbohydrate Conformation
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Conserved Sequence
  • Cricetinae
  • Glycosylation
  • Golgi Apparatus / metabolism
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • INDEL Mutation
  • Lectins / chemistry
  • Membrane Glycoproteins / metabolism
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / chemistry
  • Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / genetics*
  • Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / metabolism
  • Mutagenesis
  • Open Reading Frames
  • Peanut Agglutinin / chemistry
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Protein Transport
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
  • Staining and Labeling
  • Zinc Fingers

Substances

  • Lectins
  • Membrane Glycoproteins
  • Monosaccharide Transport Proteins
  • Peanut Agglutinin
  • SLC35C1 protein, human
  • lectin, Aleuria aurantia