Substrate specificity analysis of endoplasmic reticulum glucosidase II using synthetic high mannose-type glycans

Glucosidase II (Glc'ase II) is a glycan-processing enzyme that trims two alpha 1,3-linked Glc residues in succession from the glycoprotein oligosaccharide Glc2Man9GlcNAc2 to give Glc1Man9GlcNAc2 and Man9GlcNAc2 in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Monoglucosylated glycans, such as Glc1Man9GlcNAc2, generated by this process play a key role in glycoprotein quality control in the ER, because they are primary ligands for the lectin chaperones calnexin (CNX) and calreticulin (CRT). A precise analysis of the substrate specificity of Glc'ase II is expected to further our understanding of the molecular basis to glycoprotein quality control, because Glc'ase II potentially competes with CNX/CRT for the same glycans, Glc1Man7-9GlcNAc2. In this study, a quantitative analysis of the specificity of Glc'ase II using a series of structurally defined synthetic glycans was carried out. In the presence of CRT, Glc'ase II-mediated trimming from Glc2Man9GlcNAc2 stopped at Glc1Man9GlcNAc2, supporting the notion that the glycan structure delivered to the CNX/CRT cycle is Glc1Man9GlcNAc2. Unexpectedly, our experiments showed that Glc1Man8(B)GlcNAc2 had nearly the same reactivity as Glc1Man9GlcNAc2, which was markedly greater than that of its positional isomer Glc1Man8(C) GlcNAc2. An analysis with glycoprotein-like probes revealed the stepwise formation of Glc1Man9GlcNAc2 and Man9GlcNAc2 from Glc2Man9GlcNAc2, even in the presence of CRT. It was also shown that Glc1Man8(B) GlcNAc2 had even greater reactivity than Glc1Man9GlcNAc2 at the glycoprotein level. Moreover, inhibitory activities by nonglucosylated glycans suggested that Glc'ase II recognized the C arm (Man alpha 1,2Man alpha 1,6Man-) of high man-nose-type glycans.