Selective Glycan Labeling of Mannose-Containing Glycolipids in MycobacteriaClick to copy article linkArticle link copied!
- So Young LeeSo Young LeeDepartment of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesMore by So Young Lee
- Victoria M. MarandoVictoria M. MarandoDepartment of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesMore by Victoria M. Marando
- Stephanie R. SmelyanskyStephanie R. SmelyanskyDepartment of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesMore by Stephanie R. Smelyansky
- Daria E. KimDaria E. KimDepartment of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesMore by Daria E. Kim
- Phillip J. CalabrettaPhillip J. CalabrettaDepartment of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesDepartment of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United StatesMore by Phillip J. Calabretta
- Theodore C. WarnerTheodore C. WarnerDepartment of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesMore by Theodore C. Warner
- Bryan D. BrysonBryan D. BrysonDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesMore by Bryan D. Bryson
- Laura L. Kiessling*Laura L. Kiessling*Email: [email protected]Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesDepartment of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United StatesRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United StatesMore by Laura L. Kiessling
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is one of history’s most successful human pathogens. By subverting typical immune responses, Mtb can persist within a host until conditions become favorable for growth and proliferation. Virulence factors that enable mycobacteria to modulate host immune systems include a suite of mannose-containing glycolipids: phosphatidylinositol mannosides, lipomannan, and lipoarabinomannan (LAM). Despite their importance, tools for their covalent capture, modification, and imaging are limited. Here, we describe a chemical biology strategy to detect and visualize these glycans. Our approach, biosynthetic incorporation, is to synthesize a lipid-glycan precursor that can be incorporated at a late-stage step in glycolipid biosynthesis. We previously demonstrated selective mycobacterial arabinan modification by biosynthetic incorporation using an exogenous donor. This report reveals that biosynthetic labeling is general and selective: it allows for cell surface mannose-containing glycolipid modification without nonspecific labeling of mannosylated glycoproteins. Specifically, we employed azido-(Z,Z)-farnesyl phosphoryl-β-d-mannose probes and took advantage of the strain-promoted azide–alkyne cycloaddition to label and directly visualize the localization and dynamics of mycobacterial mannose-containing glycolipids. Our studies highlight the generality and utility of biosynthetic incorporation as the probe structure directs the selective labeling of distinct glycans. The disclosed agents allowed for direct tracking of the target immunomodulatory glycolipid dynamics in cellulo. We anticipate that these probes will facilitate investigating the diverse biological roles of these glycans.
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