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Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Characterization of Glycoproteins with the Immunoglobulin Fold by X-Ray Crystallography and Biophysical Techniques
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The importance of N-glycosylation on β3 integrin ligand binding and conformational regulation

Xiulei Cai1,2, Aye Myat Myat Thinn1,3, Zhengli Wang1

  • 1Blood Research Institute, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA.

Scientific Reports
|July 7, 2017
PubMed

N-glycosylations can regulate the adhesive function of integrins. Great variations in both the number and distribution of N-glycosylation sites are found in the 18 α and 8 β integrin subunits. Crystal structures of αIIbβ3 and αVβ3 have resolved the precise structural location of each N-glycan site, but the structural consequences of individual N-glycan site on integrin activation remain unclear. By site-directed mutagenesis and structure-guided analyses, we dissected the function of individual N-glycan sites in β3 integrin activation. We found that the N-glycan site, β3-N320 at the headpiece and leg domain interface positively regulates αIIbβ3 but not αVβ3 activation. The β3-N559 N-glycan at the β3-I-EGF3 and αIIb-calf-1 domain interface, and the β3-N654 N-glycan at the β3-β-tail and αIIb-calf-2 domain interface positively regulate the activation of both αIIbβ3 and αVβ3 integrins. In contrast, removal of the β3-N371 N-glycan near the β3 hybrid and I-EGF3 interface, or the β3-N452 N-glycan at the I-EGF1 domain rendered β3 integrin more active than the wild type. We identified one unique N-glycan at the βI domain of β1 subunit that negatively regulates α5β1 activation. Our study suggests that the bulky N-glycans influence the large-scale conformational rearrangement by potentially stabilizing or destabilizing the domain interfaces of integrin.

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