Primary and three-dimensional structure of lactotransferrin (lactoferrin) glycans

Adv Exp Med Biol. 1994:357:21-32. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4615-2548-6_3.

Abstract

In order to establish relationships between glycan structure and biological activity, the authors undertook a comparative study of the glycan primary structure of different transferrins from several species. By associating permethylation-mass spectrometry and 1H-NMR spectroscopy, the primary structure of the human, bovine, caprine, murine and porcine lactotransferrin glycans were determined. Using the same methods, the glycan structure of 9 serotransferrins was determined. The results obtained led to the conclusion that glycans are specific for each transferrin and, for a given transferrin, specific to the species. No relationship could be established between primary structure and function of transferrin glycans. Glycan molecular modelling, molecular dynamics simulations and X-ray diffraction studies of free glycans confirm the mobility in space of antennae. In contrast, the glycan associated with a protein is immobilized into only one conformation, as in the case of glycan-lectin associations or of "internal" glycan-protein interactions, like in rabbit serotransferrin, in which the glycan forms a bridge between the two lobes of the peptide chain, and maintains the protein in a biologically active conformation. In the case of human sero- and lactotransferrins, the glycans are in an external position on the molecules and could play a role of recognition signals.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carbohydrate Conformation
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Cattle
  • Female
  • Glycoconjugates / chemistry
  • Goats
  • Humans
  • Lactoferrin / chemistry*
  • Mice
  • Milk / chemistry
  • Milk, Human / chemistry
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oligosaccharides / chemistry*
  • Polysaccharides / chemistry*
  • Swine
  • X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

  • Glycoconjugates
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Polysaccharides
  • Lactoferrin