Glycomic Characterization of Platelets from Patients with Immune Thrombocytopenia

Introduction: Platelet glycoproteins are key contributors to platelet function but their glycans structure is unclear. Alterations in glycan composition have been reported to impact platelet clearance under physiological conditions and in the disease mechanism of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Therefore, this study sought to characterize glycan structures in human platelets from healthy control individuals and ITP patients using mass spectrometry (MS)-based glycomics approach, andto compare their glycomic profiles to facilitate understanding of glycan alterations in ITP. Methods: Glycan residues on platelet surface were determined by flow cytometry. Platelet lysates (1×10 8 platelets) from 4 healthy controls and from 4 ITP patients with a clear anomalous glycosylation pattern were characterized by MALDI-MS based glycomic approaches. N-linked glycans were released from platelet glycoproteins by PNGase F digestion and subsequently purified with a Sep-Pak C18 reverse phase cartridge. O-linked glycans were released by reductive elimination. Both pools of glycans were permethylated prior to MALDI-TOF MS to obtain an initial carbohydrate profile. Selected glycan molecular ion species were analyzed by MALDI-TOF-TOF MS/MS before and after digesting with exoglycosidases. Results: Glycans present in platelets from healthy controls and from ITP patients were largely consistent. The MS spectra for N-glycans showed a mixture of high mannose glycans (m/z 1579.8, 1783.9, 1988.0, 2192.1 and 2396.2); complex glycans (m/z 2966.5, 3776.9 and 4587.4); and bisected or truncated glycans (m/z 3211.6 and 4022.1). The spectra showed the presence of bi-, tri- and tetra-antennary complex glycans, which varied in their level of sialylation.Figure 1 shows the relative abundance ratio within eight families of core glycan structures. Platelets from ITP patients showed a consistent increase in desialylated structures such as Hex 5HexNAc 4Fuc 1. In addition to different amounts of attached sialic acid, varying levels of fucosylation were observed; ranging from the addition of a single core Fuc (m/z 2244.1), to the addition of up to three Fuc residues (m/z 3402.7). Collision-activated decomposition (CAD) MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis was performed to generate fragment ions from molecular ions detected in MALDI-TOF profiling for detailed sequencing of platelet N-glycans. This analysis suggested the presence of three isoforms: (i) sialylated tetra-antennary structure with core fucosylation and one Lewis x/a antenna; (ii) sialylated tetra-antennary structure with one Lewis y/b antenna; (ii) sialylated, core-fucosylated tri-antennary structure with one LacNAc extension and one Lewis x/a antenna. Sialidase S digestion was used to highlight the extent of desialylation in the presence of sialidase. Noteworthy, the ratio of non-sialylated bi-and tri-antennary N-glycans in ITP patients were higher than that in controls. This enzymatic digestion confirms the presence of α2,3-linked Neu5Ac on platelet glycans. Remaining sialylated structures may possess α2,6-linked Neu5Ac. O-glycan profiles obtained showed the predominance of core 1 and core 2 structures (Figure 2). The two most dominant glycan structures in core 1 were sialyl T antigen (GalNAc 1Gal 1NeuAc 1; m/z 895.5) and disialyl T antigen (GalNAc 1Gal 1NeuAc 2; m/z 1256.7), being the latter less abundant in ITP patients. The core 2 structure was modified by the addition of fucose and/or sialic acid residues (m/z 1157.7, 1344.8, 1518.9 and 1706.0). Conclusion: N- and O-glycan structures in human platelets were characterized by MALDI-TOF MS profiling to reveal interesting structural features including the presence of sialylLewis x/a epitope, Lewis x/a epitope, Lewis y/b epitope and LacNAc extensions in complex type N-glycans. Presence of terminal sialic acid and sialylLewis x/a on platelet N-glycan antenna also suggest their potentialfunction as ligands for siglecs that are associated with cell signaling functions. Siglec-1 and -2 have been suggested to have potential roles in ethiopathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Desialylation observed in glycans of platelets from ITP patients, might trigger immune system activation in these patients. This research was funded by ISCIII-Fondos FEDER PI19/00772 and Platelet Disorder Support Association Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Butta: Roche: Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; CSL-Behring: Research Funding; Novo-Nordisk: Speakers Bureau. Canales: F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; iQone: Honoraria; Sandoz: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Gilead/Kite: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy; Eusa Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene/Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria. Jiménez-Yuste: Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; BioMarin: Consultancy; Sobi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; NovoNordisk: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Octapharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; CSL Behring: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Grifols: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Alvarez Román: Octapharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Biomarin: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; CSL-Behring: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Grifols: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novo-Nordisk: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Sobi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.

Antigen Glycosylation Is a Central Regulator of CAR T Cell Efficacy

Chimeric antigen receptor-engineered T cells targeting CD19 (CART19) have revolutionized the management of relapsed and refractory B cell malignancies. Despite high initial response rates, many patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) ultimately relapse after CART19. In contrast, most patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma experience only partial or no responses. Collectively, <50% of patients treated with CART19 achieve durable disease remission. Identification of the biology responsible for these failures is central to improving CAR T cell efficacy. Several clinical reports have demonstrated that a common cause of resistance to CART19 is antigen escape, in which ALL clones emerge that have lost surface expression of CD19. The mechanisms of antigen escape that have been recognized to date all rely on disruption of CD19 genomic loci or transcribed CD19 mRNA; alterations of fully-translated CD19 protein that lead to CART19 failure have not been described. To identify pathways responsible for enabling tumor-intrinsic resistance to CART19 we performed a genome-wide loss-of-function screen in the Nalm6 ALL cell line. The second-most enriched gene in this screen was SPPL3 (Figure 1a), encoding a Golgi-resident aspartyl protease. Previous studies have determined that SPPL3 functions to broadly limit protein glycosylation by cleaving glycosyltransferases from the Golgi membrane, impairing their ability to add complex glycans to proteins as they pass through the Golgi (Voss M. et al. EMBO, 2014). Using targeted genomic disruption, we confirmed that loss of SPPL3 results in resistance to CART19 in human ALL and non-Hodgkin lymphoma models (Figures 1b-c). CART19 cells exposed to SPPL3KO ALL demonstrated significantly lower expression of CD69, PD1, Tim3 and CD107a, as well as less activation of the central T cell transcription factors NFAT and NFκB, indicating a global suppression of T cell stimulation. Consistent with its known function, loss of SPPL3 resulted in increased addition of complex glycans to CD19. Surface staining of SPPL3KO cells revealed that CD19 antibodies were less capable of binding this hyperglycosylated CD19. This included decreased binding of the antibody used to construct the anti-CD19 CAR (clone FMC63). Protein modeling revealed that an asparagine residue known to be normally glycosylated on CD19 (N125) is in close physical proximity to the FMC63 binding site (Figure 1d), suggesting that the addition of complex glycans at this site may be responsible for disruption of CAR binding that led to impaired T cell activation. We next turned our attention to CD22, another B cell antigen that is normally glycosylated and the target of CAR therapy. In contrast to CD19, loss of SPPL3 had no impact on CD22 glycosylation or antibody binding. Similarly, loss of SPPL3 did not enable resistance to CD22-targeted CAR T cells. These findings substantiated our hypothesis loss of SPPL3 lead to CART19 failure directly via modifying CD19 glycosylation, and not through another CD19-independent mechanism. To further validate the impact of CD19 glycosylation in regulating CART19 efficacy, we over-expressed SPPL3 in ALL cells, previously shown to promote global hypoglycosylation. We confirmed decreased glycosylation of CD19 (Figure 1e), and found that this resulted in loss of FMC63 binding to CD19 and complete resistance to CART19 activity (Figure 1f). In summary, our findings identify that changes to CD19 glycosylation, either enhanced or decreased, impair the ability of CARs to bind and initiate T cell effector function against malignant B cells. Further, these data identify post-translational protein modification as a novel mechanism of antigen escape from CAR-based T cell immunotherapy. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Ruella: AbClon: Consultancy, Research Funding; viTToria biotherapeutics: Research Funding; BMS, BAYER, GSK: Consultancy; Novartis: Patents & Royalties; Tmunity: Patents & Royalties. Gill: Interius Biotherapeutics: Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company, Research Funding; Novartis: Other: licensed intellectual property, Research Funding; Carisma Therapeutics: Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company, Research Funding.

The Metabolic Chemical Reporter Ac46AzGal Could Incorporate Intracellular Protein Modification in the Form of UDP-6AzGlc Mediated by OGT and Enzymes in the Leloir Pathway

Galactose is a naturally occurring monosaccharide used to build complex glycans that has not been targeted for labeling as a metabolic reporter. Here, we characterize the cellular modification of proteins by using Ac46AzGal in a dose- and time-dependent manner. It is noted that a vast majority of this labeling of Ac46AzGal occurs intracellularly in a range of mammalian cells. We also provided evidence that this labeling is dependent on not only the enzymes of OGT responsible for O-GlcNAcylation but also the enzymes of GALT and GALE in the Leloir pathway. Notably, we discover that Ac46AzGal is not the direct substrate of OGT, and the labeling results may attribute to UDP-6AzGlc after epimerization of UDP-6AzGal via GALE. Together, these discoveries support the conclusion that Ac46AzGal as an analogue of galactose could metabolically label intracellular O-glycosylation modification, raising the possibility of characterization with impaired functions of the galactose metabolism in the Leloir pathway under certain conditions, such as galactosemias.

Analysis of the avian coronavirus spike protein reveals heterogeneity in the glycans present

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is an economically important coronavirus, causing damaging losses to the poultry industry worldwide as the causative agent of infectious bronchitis. The coronavirus spike (S) glycoprotein is a large type I membrane protein protruding from the surface of the virion, which facilitates attachment and entry into host cells. The IBV S protein is cleaved into two subunits, S1 and S2, the latter of which has been identified as a determinant of cellular tropism. Recent studies expressing coronavirus S proteins in mammalian and insect cells have identified a high level of glycosylation on the protein’s surface. Here we used IBV propagated in embryonated hens’ eggs to explore the glycan profile of viruses derived from infection in cells of the natural host, chickens. We identified multiple glycan types on the surface of the protein and found a strain-specific dependence on complex glycans for recognition of the S2 subunit by a monoclonal antibody in vitro, with no effect on viral replication following the chemical inhibition of complex glycosylation. Virus neutralization by monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies was not affected. Following analysis of predicted glycosylation sites for the S protein of four IBV strains, we confirmed glycosylation at 18 sites by mass spectrometry for the pathogenic laboratory strain M41-CK. Further characterization revealed heterogeneity among the glycans present at six of these sites, indicating a difference in the glycan profile of individual S proteins on the IBV virion. These results demonstrate a non-specific role for complex glycans in IBV replication, with an indication of an involvement in antibody recognition but not neutralisation.

Identification of N-glycans with GalNAc-containing antennae from recombinant HIV trimers by ion mobility and negative ion fragmentation

Negative ion collision-induced dissociation (CID) of underivatized N-glycans has proved to be a simple, yet powerful method for their structural determination. Recently, we have identified a series of such structures with GalNAc rather than the more common galactose capping the antennae of hybrid and complex glycans. As part of a series of publications describing the negative ion fragmentation of different types of N-glycan, this paper describes their CID spectra and estimated nitrogen cross sections recorded by travelling wave ion mobility mass spectrometry (TWIMS). Most of the glycans were derived from the recombinant glycoproteins gp120 and gp41 from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), recombinantly derived from human embryonic kidney (HEK 293T) cells. Twenty-six GalNAc-capped hybrid and complex N-glycans were identified by a combination of TWIMS, negative ion CID, and exoglycosidase digestions. They were present as the neutral glycans and their sulfated and α2→3-linked sialylated analogues. Overall, negative ion fragmentation of glycans generates fingerprints that reveal their structural identity.

One-Pot Glycosylation Strategy for Rapid Access of Oligosaccharides with Wide Range of Molecular Diversity

: In carbohydrate chemistry, the synthesis of complex saccharides with well-defined structures is the most formidable process as it is quite strenuous to isolate carbohydrates in acceptable purity and amounts from natural sources. Therefore, complex saccharides with well-defined structures are often most conveniently accessed through chemical syntheses. This review mainly focuses on the methodologies for one-pot glycosylation into the complex glycans from the non-reducing end to reducing end and vice versa, orthogonal, preactivation based, photochemical as well as hybrid one-pot glycosylation. The main goal of this review is to be able to rapidly synthesize biologically relevant glycans in carbohydrates that can be implemented to research in carbohydrate-based vaccine development, diagnostics, as well as drug discovery.

Glycan chip based on structure switchable DNA linker for on-chip biosynthesis of cancer-associated complex glycans

On-chip glycan biosynthesis is an effective strategy for preparing useful complex glycan sources and for preparing glycan-involved applications simultaneously. However, current methods have some limitations when analyzing biosynthesized glycans and optimizing enzymatic reactions, which could result in undefined glycan structures on a surface, leading to unequal and unreliable results. In this work, a novel glycan chip was developed by introducing a pH-responsive i-motif DNA linker to control the immobilization and isolation of glycans on chip surfaces in a pH-dependent manner. On-chip enzymatic glycosylations were optimized for uniform biosynthesis of cancer-associated Globo H hexasaccharide and its related complex glycans through stepwise quantitative analyses of isolated products from the surface. Successful interaction analyses of the anti-Globo H antibody and MCF-7 breast cancer cells with on-chip biosynthesized Globo H-related glycans demonstrated the feasibility of the structure-switchable DNA linker-based glycan chip platform for on-chip complex glycan biosynthesis and glycan-involved applications.

Terminal Epitope-Dependent Branch Preference of Siglecs Toward N-Glycans

Siglecs are sialic acid–binding immunoglobulin-like lectins that play vital roles in immune cell signaling. Siglecs help the immune system distinguish between self and nonself through the recognition of glycan ligands. While the primary binding specificities of Siglecs are known to be divergent, their specificities for complex glycans remain unclear. Herein, we determined N-glycan binding profiles of a set of Siglecs by using a complex asymmetric N-glycan microarray. Our results showed that Siglecs had unique terminal epitope-dependent branch preference when recognizing asymmetric N-glycans. Specifically, human Siglec-3, -9, and -10 prefer the α1-3 branch when Siaα2-6Galβ1-4GlcNAc terminal epitope serves as the binding ligand but prefer the opposite α1-6 branch when Siaα2-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc epitope serves as the ligand. Interestingly, Siglec-10 exhibited dramatic binding divergence toward a pair of Neu5Ac-containing asymmetric N-glycan isomers, as well as their Neu5Gc-containing counterparts. This new information on complex glycan recognition by Siglecs provides insights into their biological roles and applications.

N-Linked Glycosylation on Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 Is Essential for Seneca Valley Virus Infection

Seneca Valley virus (SVV) is a picornavirus with potency in selectively infecting and lysing cancerous cells. The cellular receptor for SVV mediating the selective tropism for tumors is anthrax toxin receptor 1 (ANTXR1), a type I transmembrane protein expressed in tumors. Similar to other mammalian receptors, ANTXR1 has been shown to harbor N-linked glycosylation sites in its extracellular vWA domain. However, the exact role of ANTXR1 glycosylation on SVV attachment and cellular entry was unknown. Here we show that N-linked glycosylation in the ANTXR1 vWA domain is necessary for SVV attachment and entry. In our study, tandem mass spectrometry analysis of recombinant ANTXR1-Fc revealed the presence of complex glycans at N166, N184 in the vWA domain, and N81 in the Fc domain. Symmetry-expanded cryo-EM reconstruction of SVV-ANTXR1-Fc further validated the presence of N166 and N184 in the vWA domain. Cell blocking, co-immunoprecipitation, and plaque formation assays confirmed that deglycosylation of ANTXR1 prevents SVV attachment and subsequent entry. Overall, our results identified N-glycosylation in ANTXR1 as a necessary post-translational modification for establishing stable interactions with SVV. We anticipate our findings will aid in selecting patients for future cancer therapeutics, where screening for both ANTXR1 and its glycosylation could lead to an improved outcome from SVV therapy.

Asymmetric structures and conformational plasticity of the uncleaved full-length human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein trimer

The functional human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimer [(gp120/gp41)3] is produced by cleavage of a conformationally flexible gp160 precursor. Gp160 cleavage or the binding of BMS-806, an entry inhibitor, stabilizes the pre-triggered, 'closed' (State-1) conformation recognized by rarely elicited broadly neutralizing antibodies. Poorly neutralizing antibodies (pNAbs) elicited at high titers during natural infection recognize more 'open' Env conformations (States 2 and 3) induced by binding the receptor, CD4. We found that BMS-806 treatment and crosslinking decreased the exposure of pNAb epitopes on cell-surface gp160; however, after detergent solubilization, crosslinked and BMS-806-treated gp160 sampled non-State-1 conformations that could be recognized by pNAbs. Cryo-electron microscopy of the purified BMS-806-bound gp160 revealed two hitherto unknown asymmetric trimer conformations, providing insights into the allosteric coupling between trimer opening and structural variation in the gp41 HR1N region. The individual protomer structures in the asymmetric gp160 trimers resemble those of other genetically modified or antibody-bound cleaved HIV-1 Env trimers, which have been suggested to assume State-2-like conformations. Asymmetry of the uncleaved Env potentially exposes surfaces of the trimer to pNAbs. To evaluate the effect of stabilizing a State-1-like conformation of the membrane Env precursor, we treated cells expressing wild-type HIV-1 Env with BMS-806. BMS-806 treatment decreased both gp160 cleavage and the addition of complex glycans, implying that gp160 conformational flexibility contributes to the efficiency of these processes. Selective pressure to maintain flexibility in the precursor of functional Env allows the uncleaved Env to sample asymmetric conformations that potentially skew host antibody responses toward pNAbs.