Evidence that serum amyloid P component binds to mannose-terminated sequences of polysaccharides and glycoproteins

Serum amyloid P component (SAP) is a normal human serum protein with pentraxin structure that has morphological and immunochemical identity to the amyloid P component found in normal tissue and amyloid deposits. In the presence of calcium, SAP binds to certain complex polysaccharides, including agarose and zymosan. While the binding of SAP to agarose involves interaction with a galactose pyruvate acetal, the ligand in zymosan has not been defined. In the present study we determined that SAP binds to ligand(s) in a soluble extract of zymosan prepared by alkaline hydrolysis, which contains the mannose oligosaccharide sequences alpha DMan1----3DMan and alpha DMan1----6DMan. SAP did not bind to the alkali-insoluble fraction of zymosan, which is predominantly a glucan polymer, and its binding to zymosan extract which had been absorbed with concanavalin A was markedly reduced, suggesting that mannose residues are involved in the binding of SAP to zymosan. We also demonstrated that SAP binds to the glycoproteins ovalbumin, thyroglobulin, beta-glucuronidase and C3bi, which contain mannose-terminated sequences, while it did not bind to native and desialized preparations of ovomucoid, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and glycophorin, which lack terminal mannose residues. SAP did not bind to pneumococcal C polysaccharide or to N-acetylglucosamine oligosaccharides covalently linked to a protein carrier. The binding of SAP to ligand(s) in zymosan extract or ovalbumin was inhibited by the preincubation of SAP with either zymosan extract or ovalbumin glycopeptides, both of which share similar mannose oligosaccharide sequences. All of the SAP binding reactions required calcium, were maximal at approximately 1 mM calcium, and gave similar results whether purified SAP or SAP in serum was used. These findings indicate that mannose-terminated oligosaccharides of polysaccharides and glycoproteins represent a new class of ligands for SAP and suggest that SAP may function as a mannose-binding protein.