[Analysis of enzyme activity and substrate specificity of dolichyl-phosphate β-glucosyltransferase]

Protein folding and quality control processes primarily occur in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). ER-resident molecular chaperones play a crucial role in guiding nascent polypeptides towards their correct tertiary structures. Some of these chaperones specifically recognize glucosylated N-glycan moieties on peptide. It is of great significance to study the N-glycan biosynthetic pathway and glycoprotein quality control system by analyzing the sugar donor of ER luminal glucosyltransferases, known as dolichol phosphate glucose (Dol-P-Glc), or its analogues in vitro. In this study, we investigated a range of dolichol analogues to synthesize lipid phosphate glucose, which served as substrates for dolichyl-phosphate β-glucosyltransferase E (Alg5E) derived from Trichomonas vaginalis. The results demonstrated that the recombinant Alg5E, expressed in Escherichia coli, exhibited strong catalytic activity and the ability to recognize lipid phosphate glucose with varying chain lengths. Interestingly, the enzyme's catalytic reaction was found to be faster with longer carbon chains in the substrate. Additionally, Alg5E showed a preference for branched chain methyl groups in the lipid structure. Furthermore, our study confirmed the importance of divalent metal ions in the binding of the crucial DXD motif, which is essential for the enzyme's catalytic function. These findings lay the groundwork for future research on glucosyltransferases Alg6, Alg8, and Alg10 in the synthesis pathway of dolichol-linked oligosaccharide (DLO).