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Viral vector‐mediated delivery of competing glycosyltransferases modifies epitope expression cell specifically
Author(s) -
Baboval Thia,
Liang ShuLing,
Smith Frances I.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.10149
Subject(s) - epitope , glycosyltransferase , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , immunology , antibody , gene
The glycoconjugate epitopes 3‐fucosyl‐ N ‐acetyllactosamine (CD15) and sulfoglucuronylcarbohydrate (SGC) mediate cell adhesion events in several systems, and are regulated both spatially and temporally during cerebellar development. In cotransfection studies using COS‐1 cells, competition between glycosyltransferases that utilize a common precursor involved in the final synthetic steps of these epitopes, can modulate epitope expression. For example, cotransfection of rat α1,3‐fucosyltransferase IV (Fuc‐TIV) and either rat glucuronic acid transferase P (GlcAT) or pig α1,3‐galactosyltransferase (GalT) resulted in the dominance of either SGC or GalαGal epitope expression, respectively, with blockage of CD15 epitope expression. Viral vectors expressing these glycosyltransferases were used to determine whether competition plays a role in establishing epitope dominance in cerebellar cells, and whether overexpression of competing glycosyltransferases could be used to block epitope expression. Infection of cerebellar astrocytes with viral vectors expressing either Fuc‐TIV, or Fuc‐TIX, caused dramatic increases in CD15 expression in the presence of continued endogenous SGC epitope expression. Likewise, viral transduction with GalT resulted in GalαGal expression without affecting endogenous CD15 or SGC expression. Thus, competition between these enzymes does not appear to play a role in establishing epitope expression in astrocytes, and transduction of these enzymes does not provide a method of blocking the expression of endogenous epitopes. In contrast to what was observed for astrocytes, infection with viral vectors expressing either Fuc‐T, GlcAT, or GalT did not result in significant expression of the relevant epitopes (CD15, SGC or GalαGal, respectively) on granule neurons. These results suggest a different complement of precursors are present in granule neurons and astrocytes, presumably due to the presence of different complements of glycosyltransferases in these cells. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.