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Recognition factors of Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) and their accommodation sites

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Abstract

Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) is one of the well known plant lectins that are widely used in clinical serology to differentiate human blood group A1 and A2 erythrocytes and also applied to glycobiology. However, the knowledge of recognition factors of polyvalent (super) glycotopes in glycans and the roles of functional group and epimer in monosaccharide (sub-monosaccharide recognition factor) have not been well established. The size and shape of the recognition (combining) site of DBA has not been clearly defined. In this study, many important recognition factors of DBA-glycan binding were characterized by our established enzyme-linked lectinosorbent (ELLSA) and inhibition assays. The results of these assays showed that the intensity profile of the recognition factors for the major combining site of DBA was expressed by Mass relative potency (Mass R.P.) and shown by decreasing order of high density of polyvalent GalNAcα1 → (super glycotopes, 3.7 × 103) >> the corresponding β anomers >> monomeric GalNAcα1 → related glycotopes (GalNAc as 1.0) >> their GalNAc β-anomers >> Gal (absence of NHCH3CO at carbon-2 of GalNAc) and GlcNAc (different epimer of Carbon-4 in GalNAc). From the all data available, it is proposed that the combining site of DBA should consist of a small cavity shape as major site and most complementary to monomeric GalNAcα → located at both terminal reducing end (Tn) and nonreducing end of glycan chains, and with a wide and broad area as subsite to accommodate from mono- to tetra-saccharides (GalNAcβ, Galβ1 → 3/4GlcNAc, lFucα1 → 2Galβ1 → 3/4GlcNAc, GalNAcβ1 → 3Galα1 → 4Galβ1 → 4Glc) at the nonreducing side. This study provides the most (comprehensive) recognition knowledge of DBA-glycan interactions at the factors of glycotope, super glycotope/sub-monosaccharide levels. Thus, it should expand and upgrade the conventional concept of the combining (recognition) site of DBA since 1980s.

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Abbreviations

DBA:

Dolichos biflorus Agglutinin

ABA:

Agaricus bisporus Agglutinin

MBP-A:

Mannose-binding protein-A

GSI-A4 :

Bandeiraea (Griffonia) simplicifolia Lectin-I, isolectin A4

VVL-B4 :

Vicia villosa B4

HOC, cyst gps:

glycoproteins isolated from human ovarian cyst fluid

THGP:

Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein

OSM:

Ovine submandibular gp-major

PSM:

Porcine salivary mucin

BSM:

Bovine submandibular gp

RSL:

Rat sublingual gp

Ara:

d-arabinose

lAra:

l-arabinose

Fuc:

l-fucose

dFuc:

d-fucose

Gal:

d-galactose

Glc:

d-glucose

GalNAc:

N-acetylgalactosamine

GlcNAc:

N-acetylglucosamine

NeuAc:

Sialic acid

LacNAc:

N-acetyllactosamine

A :

GalNAcα1 → 3Gal

A h :

GalNAcα1 → 3(lFucα1 → 2)Gal

B :

Galα1 → 3Gal

B h :

Galα1 → 3(lFucα1 → 2)Gal

H :

lFucα1 → 2Gal

h :

Crypto lFucα1 → 2Gal

I β :

Galβ1 → 3GlcNAcβ1 → , human blood group type I precursor sequence

II β :

Galβ1 → 4GlcNAcβ, human blood group type II precursor sequence

L :

Galβ1 → 4Glc

L β :

Galβ1 → 4Glcβ

F :

GalNAcα1 → 3GalNAc

F p :

Forssman pentasaccharide, GalNAcα1 → 3GalNAcβ1 → 3Galα1 → 4Galβ1 → 4Glc

S β :

GalNAcβ1 → 4Galβ

T :

Thomsen-Friedenreich disaccharide, Galβ1 → 3GalNAc

T α :

Galβ1 → 3GalNAcα1 → Ser/Thr

Tn :

GalNAcα1 → Ser/Thr.

Le a :

Lewis a, Galβ1 → 3[Fucα1 → 4]GlcNAc

Le b :

Lewis b, Fucα1 → 2Galβ1 → 3[Fucα1 → 4]GlcNAc

Le x :

Lewis x, Galβ1 → 4[Fucα1 → 3]GlcNAc

Le y :

Lewis y, Fucα1 → 2Galβ1 → 4[Fucα1 → 3]GlcNAc

sLea :

Sialyl Lewis a NeuAcα2 → 3Galβ1 → 3[Fucα1 → 4]GlcNAc

sLex :

Sialyl Lewis x, NeuAcα2 → 3Galβ1 → 4[Fucα1 → 3]GlcNAc

A1 and A2 :

Subtype of blood group A, in which A1 is higher density of Ah than these of A2

ELLSA:

Enzyme-linked lectinosorbent assay

mass or molar RP:

Mass or molar relative potency

TBS:

Tris-HCl buffered saline

TBS-T:

TBS with Tween 20

PBS:

Phosphate-buffered saline

MMCO:

Molecular mass cut off

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Drs. E. Lisowska, M. Duk, Els J.M. and Van Damme for our long term collaboration to obtain many pioneer data for this study.

This work was supported by CGU research grant, BMRP 008. The authors thank Wu’s MICCs Forever Foundation, Kwei-San, Tao-yuan, Taiwan and Ms. Ko’s help in manuscript preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Glycomics Res, Lab., Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Medicine, Chang-Gung University, Kwei-san, Tao-yuan, 33302, Taiwan

    Albert M. Wu & Anna Dudek

  2. Molecular Infectious Disease Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Tao-yuan, 333, Taiwan

    Anna Dudek

  3. Department of Medical Technology, Yuanpei University, Hsinchu City, 300, Taiwan

    Yung Liang Chen

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Wu, A.M., Dudek, A. & Chen, Y.L. Recognition factors of Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) and their accommodation sites. Glycoconj J 40, 383–399 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10719-023-10118-7

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