Isolation of glucose-containing high-mannose glycoprotein core oligosaccharides

The total cell wall mannoprotein has been isolated from a mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that fails to remove the glucose units of the dolichol-linked precursor after transfer of the oligosaccharide to asparagine units in the protein. The oligosaccharides released from this mannoprotein by endoglucosaminidase H digestion show 1H NMR signals assignable to three alpha-linked glucose units as delta 5.52, 5.27, and 5.17, and a comparison with the chemical shifts of reference compounds shows that these signals are consistent with the structure alpha Glc----2 alpha Glc----3 alpha Man----2. This provides a direct confirmation for the structure previously assigned to the lipid-linked precursor. Analysis of the larger oligosaccharides confirms that the presence of the glucose units does not prevent elongation of the alpha 1----6-linked polymannose backbone or addition of alpha 1----3-linked mannose to the core.