Structural studies on folding and interactions of glycoconjugates of immunological interests

糖链是参与细胞间通讯的分子识别媒介，对糖蛋白的折叠和质量控制有重要作用。虽然糖链的生物学意义已被广泛认识，但从结构方面对其具体作用知之甚少。在本研究中，我们发展了核磁共振和多维高效液相色谱方法，用于阐明具有免疫学意义的糖偶联物的糖链生物学功能。通过使用这些技术，我们解决了以下问题：1)糖链与细胞内凝集素如钙网蛋白和血管活性肠肽-36的相互作用模式)免疫球蛋白G Fc部分的糖链在与Fcγ受体和类风湿因子相互作用中的作用。3)核磁共振和高效液相分析重组CD1糖蛋白表达的碳水化合物部分。4)各种病理条件下血清IgS的糖基化图谱。

Sugar chains of glycoconjugates mediate molecular recognition involved in cell-cell communication and contribute to folding and quality control of glycoproteins. Although biological significance of sugar chains were widely recognized, little was known about their specific roles from a structural aspect. In the present study, we have developed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and multi-dimensional HPLC methods for the elucidation of biological functions of sugar chains of glycoconjugates of immunological interests. By use of these techniques, we have addressed the following issues :1) Modes of interactions between sugar chains and intracellular lectins such as calreticulin and VIP-36.2) Roles of the sugar chains attached to the Fc portion of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in the interactions with Fcγ receptors and rheumatoid factors.3) NMR and HPLC analyses of the carbohydrate moieties expressed by recombinant CD1 glycoproteins.4) Glycosylation profiling of serum IgGs under a variety of pathological conditions.