Biosynthesis of sulfated asparagine-linked complex carbohydrate units of calf thyroglobulin

Thyroglobulin from colloid as well as from membrane fractions became radiolabeled upon incubation of calf thyroid slices with [35S]sulfate. The identity of the sulfate-labeled molecule was established by immunoprecipitation, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Bio-Gel A-5m filtration, and DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Size analysis by gel filtration of [35S]glycopeptides and hydrazine-released oligosaccharides indicated that the sulfate was primarily located in the complex (unit B) carbohydrate units of thyroglobulin. Moreover, although [35S]sulfate-labeled oligosaccharides were cleaved by N-glycanase to the same extent as those labeled with [3H]mannose, they were not released by endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase under conditions that led to the complete removal of polymannose carbohydrate (unit A). The failure of 35S-labeled glycopeptides and oligosaccharides to bind to immobilized Concanavalin-A indicated that the sulfate residues in calf thyroglobulin are located in carbohydrate units with three or more branches. No evidence for the occurrence of tyrosine sulfate was found upon examination of Pronase digests of radiolabeled thyroglobulin, and chemical analyses excluded the presence of this amino acid down to a level of 0.5 residues/polypeptide subunit. Studies with density gradient-separated membrane fractions as well as with puromycin indicated that sulfate addition is a late event in thyroglobulin biosynthesis which occurs in the Golgi compartment. Furthermore, it was observed that the nondimerized thyroglobulin subunit was much less sulfate labeled than the mature molecule. The location of the sulfated carbohydrate in a terminal portion of the calf thyroglobulin peptide chain was suggested by the observation that the subunit [mol wt (Mr) = 330,000] can undergo a transformation, presumably mediated by an endogenous protease, to a sulfate-free component (Mr = approximately 270,000) with the appearance of a 35S-labeled 60,000 Mr fragment; the release of a single sulfate-labeled peptide (Mr = 60,000) by mild trypsin treatment was consistent with a sequestration of sulfate groups in the thyroglobulin molecule.