J Biol Chem, Vol. 274, Issue 10, 6183-6189, March 5, 1999

Acid-catalyzed Lactonization of 2,8-Linked Oligo/Polysialic Acids Studied by High Performance Anion-exchange Chromatography

From the Biology Department, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218

Recent studies from many laboratories revealed remarkable structural, distributional, and functional diversities of oligo/polysialic acids (OSA/PSA) that exist in organisms ranging from bacteria to man. These diversities are further complicated by the fact that OSA/PSA spontaneously form lactones under even mildly acidic conditions. By using high performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) with nitrate eluents, we found that lactonization of 2,8-linked OSA/PSA (oligo/poly-Neu5Ac, oligo/poly-Neu5Gc and oligo/poly-KDN) proceeds readily, and the lactonization process displays three discrete stages. The initial stage is characterized by limited lactonization occurring between two internal sialic acid residues, reflected by a regular pattern of lactone peaks interdigitated with non-lactonized peaks on HPAEC. In the middle stage, multiple lactonized species are formed from a molecule with a given degree of polymerization (DP), in which the maximum number of lactone rings formed equals DP minus 2. At the final stage, completely lactonized species become the major components, resulting in drastic changes in the physicochemical properties of the sample. Interestingly, the smallest lactonizable OSA are tetramer, trimer, and dimer at the initial, middle, and final stages, respectively. At any of the stages, OSA/PSA of higher DP lactonize more rapidly, but all the lactone rings rapidly open up when exposed to mild alkali. Lactonized OSA/PSA are resistant to both enzyme- and acid-catalyzed glycosidic bond cleavage. The latter fact was utilized to obtain more high DP oligo/poly(2,8-Neu5Gc) chains from a polysialoglycoprotein. Our results should be useful in preparation, storage, and analysis of OSA/PSA. Possible biological significance and bioengineering potentials of lactonization are discussed.