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Updated: Feb 18, 2026

Chemo-enzymatic Synthesis of N-glycans for Array Development and HIV Antibody Profiling
Published on: February 5, 2018
Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of the glucagon containing N-linked oligosaccharide and its characterization
Takayuki Higashiyama1, Midori Umekawa1, Masaya Nagao1
1Division of Integrated Life Science, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.
Abstract:
The chemo-enzymatic synthesis of an artificially N-glycosylated derivative of glucagon, a peptide hormone that regulates the blood sugar level, is described. We synthesized the glycosylated glucagon by chemical synthesis of an N-acetylglucosaminyl peptide and enzymatic transfer of an oligosaccharide using the transglycosylation activity of the glycosynthase-like mutant of Mucor hiemalis endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Endo-M) and sialo-oligosaccharide oxazoline as a donor substrate. The sialo-oligosaccharide-attached glucagon synthesized showed high resistance against protease degradation and stimulated the release of glucose from mouse hepatocytes when added to cells. The synthetic glucagon showed slightly higher activity than native glucagon and has potential as a therapeutic agent for treating diabetic patients.
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