Mechanism of class 1 (glycosylhydrolase family 47) α-mannosidases involved in N-glycan processing and endoplasmic reticulum quality control

Abstract

Quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) determines the fate of newly synthesized glycoproteins toward either correct folding or disposal by ER-associated degradation. Initiation of the disposal process involves selective trimming of N-glycans attached to misfolded glycoproteins by ER α-mannosidase I and subsequent recognition by the ER degradation-enhancing α-mannosidase-like protein family of lectins, both members of glycosylhydrolase family 47. The unusual inverting hydrolytic mechanism catalyzed by members of this family is investigated here by a combination of kinetic and binding analyses of wild type and mutant forms of human EE α-mannosidase I as well as by structural analysis of a co-complex with an uncleaved thiodisaccharide substrate analog. These data reveal the roles of potential catalytic acid and base residues and the identification of a novel 3S1 sugar conformation for the bound substrate analog. The co-crystal structure described here, in combination with the 1C 4 conformation of a previously identified co-complex with the glycone mimic, 1-deoxymannojirimycin, indicates that glycoside bond cleavage proceeds through a least motion conformational twist of a properly predisposed substrate in the -1 subsite. A novel 3H4 conformation is proposed as the exploded transition state. © 2005 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.