Cloning, expression and characterization of Bombyx mori α1,6-fucosyltransferase

Although core α1,6-fucosylation is commonly observed in N-glycans of both vertebrates and invertebrates, the responsible enzyme, α1,6-fucosyltransferase, has been much less characterized in invertebrates compared to vertebrates. To investigate the functions of α1,6-fucosyltransferase in insects, we cloned the cDNA for the α1,6-fucosyltransferase from Bombyx mori (Bmα1,6FucT) and characterized the recombinant enzyme prepared using insect cell lines. The coding region of Bmα1,6FucT consists of 1737bp that code for 578 amino acids of the deduced amino acid sequence, showing significant similarity to other α1,6-fucosyltransferases. Enzyme activity assays demonstrated that Bmα1,6FucT is enzymatically active in spite of being less active compared to the human enzyme. The findings also indicate that Bmα1,6FucT, unlike human enzyme, is N-glycosylated and forms a disulfide-bonded homodimer. These findings contribute to a better understanding of roles of α1,6-fucosylation in invertebrates and also to the development of the more efficient engineering of N-glycosylation of recombinant glycoproteins in insect cells.