A Visualizable Chain-Terminating Inhibitor of Glycosaminoglycan Biosynthesis in Developing Zebrafish

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 53; no. 13; pp. 3347 - 3352
• Main Authors: Beahm, Brendan J., Dehnert, Karen W., Derr, Nicolas L., Kuhn, Joachim, Eberhart, Johann K., Spillmann, Dorothe, Amacher, Sharon L., Bertozzi, Carolyn R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 24.03.2014; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Animals; Biosynthesis; Chains; Chemistry; Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Chondroitin Sulfates - chemistry; Click Chemistry; Glycosaminoglycans; Glycosaminoglycans - metabolism; Heparan sulfate; Heparitin Sulfate - chemistry; Inhibitors; Physical Sciences; Residues; Science & Technology; Sulfates; Xylose; Zebrafish; Zebrafish - metabolism; glycosaminoglycans; inhibitors; CHONDROITIN SULFATE; PROTEOGLYCANS; GLYCANS; click chemistry; GLYCOSYLATION; IDENTIFICATION; TUMOR SUPPRESSORS; LAMININS; HEPARAN-SULFATE BIOSYNTHESIS; GASTRULATION; MORPHOGENESIS; biosynthesis; zebrafish
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201310569

Heparan sulfate (HS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) glycosaminoglycans (GAG) are proteoglycan‐associated polysaccharides with essential functions in animals. They have been studied extensively by genetic manipulation of biosynthetic enzymes, but chemical tools for probing GAG function are limited. HS and CS possess a conserved xylose residue that links the polysaccharide chain to a protein backbone. Here we report that, in zebrafish embryos, the peptide‐proximal xylose residue can be metabolically replaced with a chain‐terminating 4‐azido‐4‐deoxyxylose (4‐XylAz) residue by administration of UDP‐4‐azido‐4‐deoxyxylose (UDP‐4‐XylAz). UDP‐4‐XylAz disrupted both HS and CS biosynthesis and caused developmental abnormalities reminiscent of GAG biosynthesis and laminin mutants. The azide substituent of protein‐bound 4‐XylAz allowed for rapid visualization of the organismal sites of chain termination in vivo through bioorthogonal reaction with fluorescent cyclooctyne probes. UDP‐4‐XylAz therefore complements genetic tools for studies of GAG function in zebrafish embryogenesis. Visualizing inhibition: Metabolic incorporation of an azide modified xylose residue inhibits elaboration of the glycan. Further, the azide group enables rapid visualization of the sites of inhibition in vivo during zebrafish development using Cu‐free click chemistry.