Carbohydrate moieties in recombinant human thyroid peroxidase: role in recognition by antithyroid peroxidase antibodies in Hashimoto's thyroiditis

We studied the oligosaccharide moieties of recombinant human thyroid peroxidase (hTPO) expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, and the role of these glycans in hTPO antigenicity in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. To determine whether hTPO carbohydrate moieties were N-linked, O-linked, or both, and to obtain information about the characteristics of the carbohydrate component(s), we digested hTPO with deglycosylating enzymes of varying specificity. Proteins in CHO-TPO cells were labeled with [35S]methionine, and hTPO was immunoprecipitated with anti-hTPO antibodies present in Hashimoto's thyroiditis serum. Digestion with endoglycosidase (endo) F, which removes both complex and polymannose N-linked glycans, increased the electrophoretic mobility of the hTPO doublet from approximately 115 kD and 110 kD to 110 kD and 105 kD. Endo H, which acts similarly to endo F, but only on polymannose, and not complex, glycans, had a similar effect. In contrast, O-glycanase and neuraminidase, which remove O-linked glycans and terminal neuraminic acid, respectively, did not alter the mobility of radiolabeled hTPO. Radiolabeled recombinant hTPO was retained by concanavalin A, but not by wheat germ agglutinin, Ricinus communis agglutinin 1, peanut agglutinin and Ulex europaeus lectins. To determine whether or not the glycan moieties in hTPO play a role in the disease-associated epitopes in Hashimoto's thyroiditis, radiolabeled recombinant hTPO was immunoprecipitated after digestion with N-glycanase. Removal of the N-linked carbohydrate chains with endo F and endo H did not prevent antibody binding. In summary, the present data indicate that: i) hTPO expressed in CHO cells contains N-linked, but not O-linked glycan moieties; ii) the N-linked carbohydrate is primarily of the polymannose variety; and, iii) the glycan moieties do not contribute to the hTPO epitopes in Hashimoto's thyroiditis.