Product-identification and substrate-specificity studies of the GDP-l-fucose: 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-d-glucoside (fuc→asn-linked GlcNAc) 6-α-l-fucosyltransferase in a golgi-rich fraction from porcine liver☆

Abstract Golgi-rich membranes from porcine liver have been shown to contain an enzyme that transfers l -fucose in α-(1→6) linkage from GDP- l -fucose to the asparagine-linked 2-acetamido-2-deoxy- d -glucose r residue of a glycopeptide derived from human α1-acid glycoprotein. Product identification was performed by high-resolution, 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy at 360 MHz and by permethylation analysis. The enzyme has been named GDP- l -fucose: 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β- d -glucoside (Fuc→Asn-linked GlcNAc) 6-α- l -fucosyltransferase, because the substrate requires a terminal β-(1→2)-linked GlcNAc residue on the α-Man (1→3) arm of the core. Glycopeptides with this residue were shown to be acceptors whether they contained 3 or 5 Man residues. Substrate-specificity studies have shown that diantennary glycopeptides with two terminal β-(1→2)-linked GlcNAc residues and glycopeptides with more than two terminal GlcNAc residues are also excellent acceptors for the fucosyltransferase. An examination of four pairs of glycopeptides differing only by the absence or presence of a bisecting GlcNAc residue in β-(1→4) linkage to the β-linked Man residue of the core showed that the bisecting GlcNAc prevented 6-α- l -fucosyltransferase action. These findings probably explain why the oligosaccharides with a high content of mannose and the hybrid oligosaccharides with a bisecting GlcNAc residue that have been isolated to date do not contain a core l -fucosyl residue.