Disaccharide-tag for highly sensitive identification of O-GlcNAc-modified proteins in mammalian cells

PLoS One. 2022 May 23;17(5):e0267804. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267804. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

O-GlcNAcylation is the only sugar modification for proteins present in the cytoplasm and nucleus and is thought to be involved in the regulation of protein function and localization. Currently, several methods are known for detecting O-GlcNAcylated proteins using monoclonal antibodies or wheat germ agglutinin, but these methods have some limitations in their sensitivity and quantitative comparison. We developed a new disaccharide-tag method to overcome these problems. This is a method in which a soluble GalNAc transferase is expressed intracellularly, extended to a disaccharide of GalNAc-GlcNAc, and detected using a Wisteria japonica agglutinin specific to this disaccharide. We verified the method using human c-Rel protein and also highly sensitively compared the difference in O-GlcNAc modification of intracellular proteins associated with differentiation from embryonic stem cell (ESC) to epiblast-like cells (EpiLC). As one example of such a modification, a novel O-GlcNAc modification was found in the transcription factor Sox2 at residue Ser263, and the modification site could be identified by nano liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetylglucosamine* / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Disaccharides*
  • Glycosylation
  • Humans
  • Mammals / metabolism
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / metabolism
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational
  • Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Disaccharides
  • Proteins
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases
  • Acetylglucosamine

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI grant JP17H03639 (to K.Y.) and AMED under grant number JP20ae0101037 (to K.Y.). There was no additional external funding received from this study.