Structures of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol membrane anchors from Aspergillus fumigatus membrane proteins

Glycobiology. 2003 Mar;13(3):169-77. doi: 10.1093/glycob/cwg004. Epub 2002 Oct 30.

Abstract

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins have been identified in all eukaryotes. In fungi, structural and biosynthetic studies of GPIs have been restricted to the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this article, four GPI-anchored proteins were purified from a membrane preparation of the human filamentous fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Using new methodology applied to western blot protein bands, the GPI structures were characterized by ES-MS, fluorescence labeling, HPLC, and specific enzymatic digestions. The phosphatidylinositol moiety of the A. fumigatus GPI membrane anchors was shown to be an inositol-phosphoceramide containing mainly phytosphingosine and monohydroxylated C24:0 fatty acid. In constrast to yeast, only ceramide was found in the GPI anchor structures of A. fumigatus, even for Gel1p, a homolog of Gas1p in S. cerevisiae that contains diacylglycerol. The A. fumigatus GPI glycan moiety is mainly a linear pentomannose structure linked to a glucosamine residue: Manalpha1-3Manalpha1-2Manalpha1-2Manalpha1-6Manalpha1-4GlcN.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aspergillus fumigatus / chemistry*
  • Blotting, Western
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Fungal Proteins / chemistry*
  • Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / chemistry*
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Membrane Proteins / chemistry*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Peptides / chemistry

Substances

  • Fungal Proteins
  • Glycosylphosphatidylinositols
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Peptides