Deletion of the first glycosylation site promotes Lassa virus glycoprotein-mediated membrane fusion

The Lassa virus(LASV)is endemic in West Africa and causes severe hemorrhagic Lassa fever in humans.The glycoprotein complex(GPC)of LASV is highly glycosylation-modified,with 11 N-glycosylation sites.All 11 N-linked glycan chains play critical roles in GPC cleavage,folding,receptor binding,membrane fusion,and immune evasion.In this study,we focused on the first glycosylation site because its deletion mutant(N79Q)results in an unexpected enhanced membrane fusion,whereas it exerts little effect on GPC expression,cleavage,and receptor binding.Meanwhile,the pseudotype virus bearing GPC_(N79Q)was more sensitive to the neutralizing antibody 37.7H and was attenuated in virulence.Exploring the biological functions of the key glycosylation site on LASV GPC will help elucidate the mechanism of LASV infection and provide strategies for the development of attenuated vaccines against LASV infection.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE N-GLYCOSYLATION OF ACETYLGLUCOSAMINYLTRANSFERASE V AND ITS ACTIVITY

Objective. The goal of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the N-glycosylation of acetylglucosaminyltransferase V(Glc NAcT-V) and its activity and to know which site among the 6 N-glycosylation sites in the GlcNAcT-V gene is the most important. Methods.Wild type of GlcNAcTV was transfected into COS7 cells and its activity was measured 48 h later. The first site (Asn 110) was mutated with sitedirected mutagenesis and transfected into COS7 cells. Results. It was found that after the cells were added tunicamycin(TM, 1 μ g/ml), the activity was 117% of the wild type. The activity of the cells with mutating GlcNAcTV was about 120% of the wild type RTPCR showed that there was no significant change in mRNA expression among the three groups. Conclusion.The Nglycosylation is important for its activity. Our results suggest that the Nlinked carbohydrates on GlcNAcTV are required for the posttranscriptional activity of the enzyme.

The Comparison of Genetic Variation in the Envelope Protein Between Various Immunodeficiency Viruses and Equine Infectious Anemia Virus

The envelope protein （Env） of lentiviruses such as HIV, SIV, FIV and EIAV is larger than that of other retroviruses. The Chinese EIAV attenuated vaccine is based on Env and has helped to successfully control this virus, demonstrating that envelope is crucial for vaccine. We compared Env variation of the four kinds of lentiviruses. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the evolutionary relationship of Env between HIV and SIV was the closest and they appeared to descend from a common ancestor, and the relationship of HIV and EIAV was the furthest. EIAV had the shortest Env length and the least number of potential N-linked glyeosylation sites （PNGS） as well as glyeosylation density compared to various immunodefieiency viruses. However, HIV had the longest Env length and the most PNGS. Moreover, the alignment of HIV and SIV showed that PNGS were primarily distributed within extraeellular membrane protein gp120 rather than transmembrane gp41. It implies that the size difference among these viruses is associated with a lentivirus specific function and also the diversity of env. There arc low levels of modification of glycosylation sites of Env and selection of optimal protective epitopes might be useful for development of an effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS.

Critical role of Dengue Virus NS1 protein in viral replication

Dengue virus(DENV) nonstructural protein 1(NS1) is a highly conserved 46-kDa protein that contains 2 glycosylation sites(Asn-130 and Asn-207) and 12 conserved cysteine(Cys) residues. Here, we performed site-directed mutagenesis to generate systematic mutants of viral strain TSV01. The results of the subsequent analysis showed that an alanine substitution at the second N-linked glycan Asn-207 in NS1 delayed viral RNA synthesis, reduced virus plaque size, and weakened the cytopathic effect. Three mutants at Cys sites(Cys-4, Cys-55, Cys-291) and a C-terminal deletion(ΔC) mutant significantly impaired RNA synthesis, and consequently abolished viral growth, whereas alanine mutations at Asn-130 and Glu-173 resulted in phenotypes that were similar to the wild-type(WT) virus. Further analysis showed that the Asn-207 mutation slightly delayed viral replication. These results suggest that the three conserved disulfide bonds and the second N-linked glycan in NS1 are required for DENV-2 replication.

An innovative method used for the identification of N-glycans on soybean allergenβ-conglycinins

β-Conglycinin is one of the major allergens existed in soybean.N-Glycans attached to theβ-conglycinin influenced the immunoreactivity and antigen presenting efficiency ofβ-conglycinin.In this study,we described a new method used to release and collect the N-glycans fromβ-conglycinin,and the N-glycans existed in linear epitopes ofβ-conglycinin were identified.Glycopeptides hydrolyzed fromβ-conglycinin were purified by cotton hydrophilic chromatography.Trifluoromethylsulfonic acid was then used to release glycans from glycopeptides,and new glycopeptides containing one single N-acety1-D-glucosamine(G1 cNAc)moiety were then utilized for mass spectrometry.Five glycosylation sites(Asn-199,Asn-455,Asn-215,Asn-489 and Asn-326)and 22 kinds of glycopeptides were identified.It is noteworthy that the peptide VVN^(#)ATSNL(where^(#)represents for the glycosylation site)was analyzed to be both glycopeptide and linear epitope.Our results provided a new method for the N-glycoform analysis of food allergens,and laid a foundation for understanding the relationship between glyco sylation and food allergy.