Elevated beta1,4-galactosyltransferase-I induced by the intraspinal injection of lipopolysaccharide

Beta1,4-galactosyltransferase-I (beta1,4-GalT-I) is one of the best studied glycosyltransferases. Previous studies demonstrated that beta1,4-GalT-I was a major galactosyltransferase responsible for selectin-ligand biosynthesis and that inflammatory responses of beta1,4-GalT-I deficient mice were impaired. In this study, we investigate the expression of beta1,4-GalT-I in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuroinflammatory processes. The results of this study demonstrated that beta1,4-GalT-I was strongly induced by intraspinal administration of LPS. More than 90% galactose-containing glycans and beta1,4-GalT-I were expressed in immune cells. The ELISA assay shows focal injection LPS also induces TNF-alpha alteration. Double staining indicated beta1,4-GalT-I overlapped with TNF-alpha. Moreover, RT-PCR for beta1,4-GalT-I mRNA showed that beta1,4-GalT-I mRNA in microglia in vitro was affected in a dose- and time dependent manner in response to LPS or TNF-alpha stimulation. All these results indicated that the increase of beta1,4-GalT-I might attribute to the effect of TNF-alpha excreting during inflammation. E-selectin, which ligand was modified by beta1,4-GalT-I, was correlated with galactose-containing glycans following injecting LPS into spinal cord. We therefore suggest that beta1,4-GalT-I may play an important role in regulating immune cell migration into the inflammatory site.