The N-linked glycosylation system of Campylobacter jejuni: a functional proteomics approach (#207)
Campylobacter
jejuni is the most common cause of food-borne illness
worldwide, accounting for ~225,000 infections in Australia per year. Infection is zoonotic and is associated with consumption
of under-cooked or poorly prepared poultry, in which C. jejuni is a commensal. A unique molecular feature of C. jejuni is the ability to
post-translationally modify membrane-associated proteins by the N-linked addition of a heptasaccharide
glycan. Glycan biosynthesis is performed by proteins encoded within the pgl (protein
glycosylation) locus, and attachment
is mediated by the PglB oligosaccharyltransferase. Disruption of pgl genes reduces chicken colonization
and adhesion to human epithelial cells, however the proteins that mediate these
phenotypes, and indeed the overall function of the N-glycan, remain to be determined. We developed mass spectrometric techniques
that have allowed the identification of many novel N-linked glycoproteins in C.
jejuni, and identified a non-canonical glycan that is itself modified by
addition of phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) to terminal GalNAc. Quantitative proteomics and glycoproteomics have examined C. jejuni model strains NCTC11168 O (O),
a clinical isolate, and NCTC11168 GS (GS), a laboratory-adapted avirulent
strain derived from NCTC11168 O. Analysis of these strains demonstrated
alterations in proteins responsible for the production of the N-linked glycan and its transfer.
Increased Pgl proteins leads to elevated N-glycan
biosynthesis and attachment, but this targets specific proteins rather than a
general increase. Quantitative glycoproteomics also revealed glycopeptides that
lack the typical C. jejuni
glycosylation sequon (D/E-X-N-X-S/T). Recently, we have been working on the
function of the N-glycosylation
system, and hypothesize a role in protein stability, mediating protein
complexes, and survival in diverse environments.