Structure and mechanism of the ER-based glucosyltransferase ALG6

Joël S. Bloch, Giorgio Pesciullesi, Jérémy Boilevin, Kamil Nosol, Rossitza N. Irobalieva, Tamis Darbre, Markus Aebi, Anthony A. Kossiakoff, Jean-Louis Reymond and Kaspar P. Locher ()
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Joël S. Bloch: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ETH Zürich
Giorgio Pesciullesi: University of Bern
Jérémy Boilevin: University of Bern
Kamil Nosol: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ETH Zürich
Rossitza N. Irobalieva: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ETH Zürich
Tamis Darbre: University of Bern
Markus Aebi: ETH Zürich
Anthony A. Kossiakoff: University of Chicago
Jean-Louis Reymond: University of Bern
Kaspar P. Locher: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ETH Zürich

Nature, 2020, vol. 579, issue 7799, 443-447

Abstract: Abstract In eukaryotic protein N-glycosylation, a series of glycosyltransferases catalyse the biosynthesis of a dolichylpyrophosphate-linked oligosaccharide before its transfer onto acceptor proteins1. The final seven steps occur in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and require dolichylphosphate-activated mannose and glucose as donor substrates2. The responsible enzymes—ALG3, ALG9, ALG12, ALG6, ALG8 and ALG10—are glycosyltransferases of the C-superfamily (GT-Cs), which are loosely defined as containing membrane-spanning helices and processing an isoprenoid-linked carbohydrate donor substrate3,4. Here we present the cryo-electron microscopy structure of yeast ALG6 at 3.0 Å resolution, which reveals a previously undescribed transmembrane protein fold. Comparison with reported GT-C structures suggests that GT-C enzymes contain a modular architecture with a conserved module and a variable module, each with distinct functional roles. We used synthetic analogues of dolichylphosphate-linked and dolichylpyrophosphate-linked sugars and enzymatic glycan extension to generate donor and acceptor substrates using purified enzymes of the ALG pathway to recapitulate the activity of ALG6 in vitro. A second cryo-electron microscopy structure of ALG6 bound to an analogue of dolichylphosphate-glucose at 3.9 Å resolution revealed the active site of the enzyme. Functional analysis of ALG6 variants identified a catalytic aspartate residue that probably acts as a general base. This residue is conserved in the GT-C superfamily. Our results define the architecture of ER-luminal GT-C enzymes and provide a structural basis for understanding their catalytic mechanisms.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2044-z

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