N-glycosylation affects the proper folding, enzymatic characteristics and production of a fungal ß-glucosidase

Biotechnol Bioeng. 2013 Dec;110(12):3075-84. doi: 10.1002/bit.24990.

Abstract

Heterologous expression of ß-glucosidase is one of the approaches to enhance the efficiency of fungal cellulase preparations. It has been reported that N-glycosylation affects the structure framework, function and stability of proteins. In this study, a ß-glucosidase from Aspergillus terreus (GenBank: XP_001216552, BglS) was heterologously expressed in Pichia pastoris and Trichoderma reesei. The four asparagine residues were all linked with high-mannose-type oligosaccharides in P. pastoris, whereas only N224 carried high-mannosetype glycan in T. reesei (the other three sites carried one N-acetylglucosamine). The long N-glycan chains on PpBglS weakened its substrate affinity, activity and thermostability. The moderate post-translational and post-secretory glycan modification in T. reesei makes it a suitable expression system for BglS. The N224 glycan played a critical role in BglS folding. The elucidation of the correlation between the different N-glycosylation patterns of BglS and their corresponding enzymatic characteristics is an important step towards improving the activity, thermostability and even production of heterologous ß-glucosidase by glycan engineering.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aspergillus / enzymology*
  • Aspergillus / genetics
  • Glycosylation
  • Pichia / genetics*
  • Pichia / metabolism*
  • Protein Folding*
  • Protein Stability
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Trichoderma / genetics*
  • Trichoderma / metabolism*
  • beta-Glucosidase / chemistry
  • beta-Glucosidase / genetics
  • beta-Glucosidase / metabolism*

Substances

  • Recombinant Proteins
  • beta-Glucosidase