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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 281, Issue 16, 10945-10953, April 21, 2006
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From the
Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Bioinformatics, Soka University, 1-236 Tangi-cho, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-8577,
Research Association for Biotechnology, 3-9, Nishi-Shinbashi 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0003, ¶Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology of Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi Center Building, 4-1-8, Hon-cho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, ||Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, **Research Center for Glycoscience, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8586, 
Program of Molecular Pathology, Aichi Cancer Center, 1-1 Kanokoden, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8681, and 
Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Molecular Immunology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Received for publication, August 15, 2005 , and in revised form, February 8, 2006.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Recently, we identified and characterized a PAPS transporter in both humans and Drosophila (3). Human PAPST1 and the Drosophila ortholog SLALOM (SLL) are Golgi-localized proteins that exhibit PAPS-specific transport activity. Analysis of the sll gene by using the RNA interference (RNAi) fly demonstrated that the PAPS transporter is essential for viability in vivo (3). Furthermore, Lüders et al. (4) demonstrated that sll is involved in growth factor signaling pathways during patterning and morphogenesis. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) possess glycosaminoglycan chains that contain diversely sulfated uronic acid and glucosamine residues. Cell surface HSPGs are involved in a variety of developmental signaling pathways, and the functions of HSPGs are dependent on their sulfation state (5-10). A mutation in the sll gene caused defects in multiple signaling pathways, including Wingless and Hedgehog signaling, probably because of the lack of HSPG sulfation (4).
Despite the low expression of the PAPST1 gene in the colon (3), human colonic tissues highly express many sulfated glycoconjugates such as proteoglycans and sulfomucins. For example, the 3'-sulfo Lewis a epitope (3'-sulfo Lea: Gal
1,3 (fucose
1,4) GlcNAc that is sulfated at the C-3 position of Gal) is strongly expressed in the normal colonic epithelium but diminishes considerably in primary colon carcinomas (11-13). The sialyl 6-sulfo Lewis x epitope (sialyl 6-sulfo Lex: Sia
2,3 Gal
1,4 (fucose
1,3) GlcNAc that is sulfated at the C-6 position of GlcNAc) is also expressed in normal human colonic tissues but not in cancerous tissues (14). These sulfated glycoconjugate epitopes are believed to regulate many biological processes in the colon (11-17).
In the present study, we attempted to identify the PAPS transporter that is responsible for the sulfation of glycoconjugates in the colon tissue. We found a gene that is closely related to the human PAPST1 gene by performing a BLAST search of data bases. This gene, called PAPST2, is preferentially expressed in human colon tissues. The PAPST2 protein exhibited PAPS transport activity similar to that of the PAPST1 protein. Here, we report the functional properties of this novel PAPS transporter.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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Isolation of Human PAPS Transporter cDNA and Construction of Expression PlasmidsThe human PAPST2 gene was identified and cloned using the same procedures as described previously (3). The amino acid sequence of the open reading frame of UGTrel1 (18) was used as a query sequence for the TBLASTN search that was performed to detect novel genes. To obtain the cDNA of NM_015948 [GenBank] , a human gene that was identified in this study, and to create recombination sites for the GATEWAYTM cloning system (Invitrogen), we used two steps of attB adaptor PCR and prepared attB-flanked PCR products. For the first gene-specific amplification, a forward template-specific primer with attB1, 5'-AAAAAGCAGGCTTCCATAATGGCATGGACTTG-3', and a reverse template-specific primer with attB2, 5'-AGAAAGCTGGGTCTACAGTCTGTGCCAGCGT-3', were used. PCR was performed using Platinum® Pfx DNA polymerase (Invitrogen) and a cDNA library derived from human colon tissue. The insertion of a complete attB adaptor and cloning into the pDONRTM201 vector were performed in accordance with the manufacturer's protocol to create an entry clone for use during the subsequent subcloning steps.
The entry clone was subcloned into the appropriate expression vectors by using the GATEWAYTM cloning system in accordance with the manufacturer's protocol. A 3 x HA epitope tag or a c-Myc tag was inserted into the expression vectors at the position corresponding to the C terminus of the expressing protein.
Transient Transfection and Immunofluorescence MicroscopyTransient transfection and immunofluorescence microscopy were performed by using one of two procedures. The first procedure is similar to one described previously (3, 19). Briefly, HCT116 cells were subcultured onto a 4-well Lab-Tek chamber slide (Nalge Nunc International) in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/Ham's nutrient mixture F-12 (1:1) containing 10% fetal bovine serum. After 24 h of subculturing, the HCT116 cells were transfected with 0.25 µg/well of pCXN2 (20), pCXN2 inserted with HA-tagged PAPST1, or pCXN2 inserted with HA-tagged PAPST2 by using Lipofectamine 2000 reagent (Invitrogen) in accordance with the manufacturer's protocol. After 72 h, the cells were fixed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) containing 4% paraformaldehyde for 30 min at 4 °C, and they were then permeabilized in a permeabilizing buffer (PBS containing 0.1% Triton X-100) for 1 h at 4 °C. The cells were subsequently double immunostained with rhodamine-conjugated anti-HA mAb and anti-
1,4-galactosyltransferase 1 mAb (21) as described previously (3, 19). Finally, the cells were washed four times and mounted with PermaFluor (Thermo Shandon, Pittsburgh, PA). The fluorescence was observed using a confocal laser scanning microscope, LSM5 Pascal (Carl Zeiss, Goettingen, Germany). In the second procedure, HA-tagged PAPST2 and c-Myc-tagged PAPST1 were expressed simultaneously in the HCT116 cells. After 24 h of subculturing, the cells were transfected with 0.25 µg/well of pCXN2 or pCXN2 inserted with HA-tagged PAPST2 and pCXN2 inserted with c-Myc-tagged PAPST1 by using Lipofectamine 2000 reagent. The cells were fixed, permeabilized, and immunostained with FITC-conjugated anti-c-Myc mAb and rhodamine-conjugated anti-HA mAb for 30 min at 37 °C after 72 h. The remainder of the procedure was the same as that described above.
Stable Transfection and Subcellular FractionationHCT116 cells were subcultured onto 6-cm dishes in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/Ham's nutrient mixture F-12 (1:1) containing 10% fetal bovine serum. After 24 h, the cells were transfected with 8 µg of pCXN2 vector, pCXN2 inserted with HA-tagged PAPST1, or pCXN2 inserted with HA-tagged PAPST2 by using Lipofectamine 2000 reagent in accordance with the manufacturer's protocol. The transfectants were selected by the addition of 600 µg/ml of geneticin (Invitrogen) to the medium and cultured for 1 month after 48 h.
Subcellular fractionation was performed as described previously (3, 19). The cells were harvested and suspended in 10 mM HEPES-Tris (pH 7.4) containing 0.25 M sucrose, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and 1 µg/ml each of leupeptin, aprotinin, and pepstatin A. The cells were then homogenized using a Dounce homogenizer. The lysate was centrifuged at 1,000 x g for 10 min to remove the unlysed cells and cell wall debris. The supernatant was then centrifuged at 7,700 x g for 10 min at 4 °C, and the supernatant was further centrifuged at 100,000 x g to yield a pellet of P100 membrane fraction.
Subcellular Fractionation of Yeast and Transport AssayYeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) strain W303-1a (MATa, ade2-1, ura3-1, his3-11,15, trp1-1, leu2-3,112, and can1-100) was transformed by the lithium acetate procedure (22) using a yeast expression vector, YEp352GAP-II (23). These transformed yeast cells were grown at 30 °C in a synthetic defined medium, which did not contain uracil, for selecting transformants. Subcellular fractionation and nucleotide sugar transport assays were performed as described previously (3, 19). The cells were harvested, washed with ice-cold 10 mM NaN3, and converted into spheroplasts by incubation at 37 °C for 30 min in spheroplast buffer (1.4 M sorbitol, 50 mM potassium phosphate (pH 7.5), 10 mM NaN3, 40 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, and 1 mg of Zymolyase 100T/g of cells). The spheroplasts were pelleted using a refrigerated centrifuge and washed twice with 1.0 M ice-cold sorbitol to remove traces of zymolyase. The cells were suspended in ice-cold lysis buffer (0.8 M sorbitol in 10 mM triethanolamine (pH 7.2), 5 µg/ml of pepstatin A, and 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride) and subsequently homogenized using a Dounce homogenizer. The lysate was centrifuged at 1,000 x g for 10 min to remove the unlysed cells and cell wall debris. The supernatant was then centrifuged at 10,000 x g for 15 min at 4 °C, which yielded a pellet of P10 membrane fraction. The supernatant was further centrifuged at 100,000 x g to yield a pellet of P100 membrane fraction. Each fraction (200 µg of protein) was then incubated in 100 µl of reaction buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 0.25 M sucrose, 5.0 mM MgCl2, 1.0 mM MnCl2, and 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol) that contained 1 µM radiolabeled substrate at 30 °C for 5 min. After incubation, the radioactivity incorporated in the microsomes was trapped using a 0.45-µm nitrocellulose filter and measured using liquid scintillation. The amount of incorporated radioactivity was calculated as the difference from the background value obtained from the same assay at 30 °C for 0 min for each sample.
Western Blot AnalysisFifty micrograms of protein from each sample was added to 3x sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) sample buffer (New England Biolabs Inc., Beverly, MA) and subsequently incubated at room temperature for 2 h. The samples were fractionated on a 2-15% SDS-polyacrylamide gel gradient (Daiichi Pure Chemicals Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). The separated proteins were electrotransferred onto a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane. The HA-tagged proteins were immunostained with anti-HA mouse mAb and horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse IgG mAb. Bound horseradish peroxidase was detected using ECL plus (Amersham Biosciences) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
Quantitative Analysis of the PAPST2 Transcript in Human Tissues by Real-time PCRThe amount of PAPST1 and PAPST2 transcripts in human tissues was determined by real-time PCR. Total RNA was extracted from human tissues by the method of Chomczynski and Sacchi (24). First strand cDNA was synthesized using a Superscript II First Strand Synthesis kit (Invitrogen) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Real-time PCR was performed using a qPCR Mastermix (QuickGoldStar; Eurogentec, Seraing, Belgium) and ABI PRISM 7700 Sequence Detection System (Applied Biosystems, Foster, CA). The PCR primer pair sequences and TaqMan probes used for each gene were as follows. For the detection of PAPST1, the forward primer 5'-GGCAGGCCCTGAAGCT-3', reverse primer 5'-TGCGGGTCATCACTCTTTC-3', and probe 5'-CCACAGGGCTCCAGGTGTCTTATCTG-3' were used. For the detection of PAPST2, the forward primer 5'-GATTAGGCCCTGCAGTAACATT-3', reverse primer 5'-ATCCAGTGAGGGAAAAAAGGA-3', and probe 5'-TGTGCAAAGAATCCAGTTCGGACCTA-3' were used. The probes were labeled at the 5'-end with the reporter dye FAM and at the 3'-end with the quencher dye TAMRA. The relative amounts of PAPST1 and PAPST2 transcripts were normalized with respect to the human glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) transcripts present in the same cDNA.
Northern Blot AnalysisPAPST2 cDNA probe (full-length open reading frame) was prepared by random priming using [
-32P]dCTP and BcaBestTM labeling kit (Takara Bio Inc., Shiga, Japan) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Poly(A)+ RNA was isolated using Oligotex-dT30 (super) mRNA purification kit (Takara Bio Inc.) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Poly(A)+ RNA derived from each sample was separated by 1.2% agarose gel containing 2.2 M formaldehyde and then transferred onto Hybond-XL nylon membrane (Amersham Biosciences). The membranes were prehybridized in the hybridization solution (5x SSPE (standard saline phosphate with EDTA; 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM NaH2PO4, 1 mM EDTA), 5x Denhardt's solution, and 0.2 mg/ml of sermon sperm DNA) for 2 h at 42°C. The membranes were hybridized overnight in hybridization solution containing 2 x 106 cpm/ml of each radiolabeled probe at 42 °C. Following hybridization, the membrane was washed in 2x SSPE containing 0.1% SDS at room temperature and in 0.2x SSPE containing 0.1% SDS at 50 °C. The radiolabeled materials were detected by using a BAS-2000 imaging analyzer (Fuji Photo Film). The membrane was reprobed with a human GAPDH cDNA probe.
RNAi of PAPST2 GeneA sequence of small interfering RNA (siRNA) for each gene was designed as described previously (25). Twenty-five base pairs of stealth RNAs were designed and purchased from Invitrogen. The PAPST1-813 siRNA (initiated at the 813 nucleotide position from the start codon) has the sequence 5'-CCUCAUCUUACUGGCAGGUUAUAUU-3'. The sequences of PAPST2-342 siRNA (initiated at the 342 nucleotide position from the start codon) and PAPST2-513 siRNA (initiated at the 513 nucleotide position from the start codon) are 5'-CCUUACCUUAGUGCAGUUUGCCUUU-3' and 5'-CCAAGUCAUCUUCAAGUGCUGCAAA-3', respectively. As control siRNA, stealth RNAi negative control duplex (Invitrogen) was used. The HCT116 cells were subcultured onto 6-cm dishes at a concentration of 1 x 106 cells/dish in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/Ham's nutrient mixture F-12 (1:1) containing 10% fetal bovine serum 24 h prior to the transfection. The cells were transfected with 10 or 100 nM siRNA by using Lipofectamine 2000 reagent. RNA was extracted using TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen), and the first strand cDNA was synthesized using a Superscript II First Strand Synthesis kit (Invitrogen).
Metabolic Labeling of Colon Cancer Cell LineRadiolabeling of sulfated residues in cell macromolecules was performed using procedures similar to those described previously (26). HCT116 cells were subcultured onto 10-cm dishes at a concentration of 1.5 or 2 x 106 cells/dish in the inorganic sulfate-free Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/Ham's nutrient mixture F-12 (1:1) containing 10% fetal bovine serum and 100 µCi/ml of carrier-free [35S]H2SO4 48 h after transfection and 48 h prior to the analysis. The cells were rinsed with PBS and detached with PBS containing 0.02% EDTA for 5 min. The cells were rinsed twice with PBS and suspended in 4 volumes of lysis buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.4), 0.5% Nonidet P-40, 1 mM EDTA, and 0.5 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride) and incubated on ice for 1 h. The solution was centrifuged at 15,000 x g for 30 min, and the supernatants were used as cell lysates. Fifty micrograms of protein from each sample were added to 3x SDS sample buffer (New England Biolabs Inc.) and boiled at 100 °C for 5 min. The samples were fractionated on a 2-15% SDS-polyacrylamide gel gradient (Daiichi Pure Chemicals Co., Ltd.). Gels were stained with Coomassie brilliant blue and dried on Whatman 3MM paper (Whatman International Ltd.). The radiolabeled materials were detected by using a BAS-2000 imaging analyzer (Fuji Photo Film).
Flow Cytometric AnalysisThe HCT116 cells were subcultured onto 10-cm dishes at a concentration of 1.5 or 2 x 106 cells/dish 72 h after transfection and 24 h prior to the analysis. These cells were then harvested with PBS containing 1 mM EDTA and washed with a wash buffer (PBS containing 0.1% bovine serum albumin and 0.1% sodium azide). Cell suspensions of 100 µl (0.5 x 106 cells) were incubated with G72 mAb (27) for 1 h on ice and washed twice with 0.5 ml of the wash buffer. The cells were then resuspended in 100 µl of FITC-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgM and incubated on ice for 30 min. The cells were washed twice with wash buffer and resuspended in 500 µl of PBS containing 0.1% sodium azide. Flow cytometric analysis was performed using FAC-SAria flow cytometer (BD Biosciences) and WinMDI 2.8 software (The Scripps Research Institute Cytometry software page).
| RESULTS |
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PAPST2 showed 22.4 and 21.7% identity to UGTrel1 and PAPST1, respectively. The structural similarity suggested that PAPST2 is a PAPS transporter gene similar to PAPST1. There are eight potential N-glycosylation sites in the PAPST2. The PAPST2 gene is mapped on human chromosome 6p24.3, and the mRNA comprises 11 exons.
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First, we investigated the subcellular localization of the PAPST2 protein. Human colon cancer HCT116 cells were transiently transfected with a mammalian expression vector, pCXN2, that contained HA-tagged PAPST2 or HA-tagged PAPST1 gene and were double immunostained with anti-HA mAb and anti-
1,4 galactosyltransferase 1 mAb. The results of immunofluorescence microscopy of the cells are shown in Fig. 2A. The HA-tagged PAPST1 protein was observed to be colocalized with
1,4 galactosyltransferase 1, which is a protein that is typically localized in the trans-Golgi (21), and this observation is consistent with a previous report (3). In this study, HA-tagged PAPST2 was also observed to be colocalized with
1,4 galactosyltransferase 1, thereby indicating trans-Golgi localization.
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Tissue Distribution of PAPST1 and PAPST2 TranscriptsNext, we analyzed the tissue distribution of PAPST2 transcripts using real-time PCR. All transcript levels are shown relative to that of GAPDH. As shown in Fig. 3A, PAPST2 is highly expressed in the colon, whereas the expression level of PAPST1 is low. PAPST2 transcripts are also widely expressed in other tissues when compared with that of PAPST1 (Fig. 3A). To confirm the expression of PAPST2 transcripts in the colon, we performed Northern blot analysis of RNAs that were derived from colon cancer cell lines HCT116 and DLD-1 and normal human colon tissue. The PAPST2 mRNA was detected as a single band corresponding to 2 kbp (Fig. 3B), which is consistent with the length of the identified sequence, namely, NM_015948 [GenBank] (2068 bp). We expected that PAPST2 would be a PAPS transporter gene that functions by compensating for the insufficient expression of PAPST1 during the synthesis of sulfated glycoconjugates in the colon.
PAPST2 Is a PAPS Transporter GeneThe substrate specificity of the PAPST2 protein was examined by yeast expression in a manner similar to that used for PAPST1 (3). The yeast expression vector YEp352GAP-II was inserted with HA-tagged PAPST2 and introduced into W303-1a yeast for the preparation of the Golgi-enriched P100 membrane fraction that expressed the PAPST2 protein. The HA-tagged PAPST2 protein was detected in the yeast P100 membrane fraction by Western blotting using an antibody against the HA epitope tag (Fig. 4A).
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Both PAPST1 and PAPST2 Transport PAPS in the Human Colon Cancer Cell LineWe also tested the PAPS transport activity of PAPST2 protein by using a mammalian cell line. For measuring the PAPS transport activity, we analyzed the Golgi-enriched fractions of colon cancer HCT116 cells that stably expressed HA-tagged PAPST1, HA-tagged PAPST2, or the mock vector (pCXN2 vector alone).
As shown in Fig. 5A, the levels of PAPST1 and PAPST2 transcripts in the PAPST1 and PAPST2 transfectant cells, respectively, showed a marked increase over those obtained from the mock transfectants. No difference was observed between the mock and PAPST1 transfectants with respect to PAPST2 transcript levels or between the mock and PAPST2 transfectants with respect to PAPST1 transcript levels (Fig. 5A). In each transfectant, HA-tagged PAPST1 or HA-tagged PAPST2 protein was detected in the Golgi-enriched fraction by Western blotting using an antibody against the HA epitope tag (Fig. 5B). The PAPS transport activity that was obtained from each Golgi-enriched fraction is shown in Fig. 5C. These Golgi-enriched fractions also showed relatively high endogenous PAPS transport activity; however, the value observed in the PAPST2 transfectants was significantly higher than that observed in the mock transfectants (1.9 ± 0.2 versus 4.2 ± 0.3 pmol/mg of protein, respectively, mean ± S.E. from three independent experiments; p < 0.05, Student's t-test). These results indicate that both PAPST1 and PAPST2 act as PAPS transporters in the human colon cancer cell line.
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1,4 N-acetyl D-glucosamine: Sia
2,3 Gal
1,4 GlcNAc that is sulfated at the C-6 position of GlcNAc) (27). We attempted to reduce PAPST2 expression in the colon cancer cell line HCT116, which is moderately reactive to G72 antibody, by using RNAi. Based on their ability to suppress gene expression, two siRNA sequences that would target the PAPST1 and PAPST2 genes, i.e. PAPST1-813 and PAPST2-513, respectively, were selected. These siRNAs were synthesized as double-stranded stealth RNAs (Invitrogen) possessing 25 nucleotides, and the stealth RNAi negative control duplex (Invitrogen) was used as a control siRNA. Lipofection was used to transfect the HCT116 cells with 10 nM PAPST1-813 and PAPST2-513 siRNAs.
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1,4 N-acetyl D-glucosamine epitope in this cell line. We obtained similar results when another siRNA sequence targeted the PAPST2 gene (PAPST2-342) at a concentration of 100 nM (averaged mean fluorescence intensity for mock, 4.0 ± 1.0; for PAPST2-513, 2.4 ± 0.2; for PAPST2-342, 2.1 ± 0.4; and for PAPST1-813, 2.8 ± 0.3, mean ± S.E. from four independent experiments). We also determined total sulfate incorporation into cellular proteins in the HCT116 cells by metabolic labeling with [35S]sulfate. As shown in Fig. 7A, transfection of both PAPST2-513 and PAPST1-813 siRNAs reduced the [35S]sulfate-labeled proteins. The density of radioactivity in each lane of the SDS-PAGE is shown in Fig. 7C. The PAPST1-813- and PAPST2-513-transfected cells resulted in a radioactivity density of 83.0% ± 2.3 and 90.2% ± 3.7 as compared with that of mock siRNA, respectively (mean ± S.E. from three independent experiments; p < 0.05 for PAPST2-513 versus mock, Student's t-test). Transfection using the PAPST2-513 and PAPST1-813 siRNAs resulted in a 30 and 69% knockdown of the corresponding mRNAs, respectively. These results demonstrated that PAPST2 is a PAPS transporter gene that is involved in the synthesis of sulfated glycoconjugates in the colon.
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| DISCUSSION |
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The PAPST2 gene is closely related to the PAPST1 gene, and the genomic locus of the PAPST2 gene is located close to that of PAPST1 (6p24.3 and 6p11.2-12.1, respectively). Despite their functional conservation, the genomic structures of PAPST2 and PAPST1 are not similar (eleven exons versus four exons, respectively). Furthermore, both PAPST1 and PAPST2 have a single ortholog in Drosophila, namely, sll and NM_140697 [GenBank] , respectively (Fig. 1A).3 These findings indicate that during the evolutionary process, the PAPST1 and PAPST2 genes diverged relatively early and thereafter evolved independently.
Recently, the nucleotide sugar transporter genes have been classified into the solute carrier family 35 (SLC35) (28). The PAPST1 and PAPST2 genes have also been classified into the SLC35 subfamily B. In GenBankTM, UGTrel1, PAPST1, and PAPST2 have been defined as members of B1 (SLC35B1), B2 (SLC35B2), and B3 (SLC35B3), respectively. More recently, Ashikov et al. (29) reported that another member of subfamily B, namely, SLC35B4, is a UDP-xylose/UDP-GlcNAc transporter gene. Data bases mention that SLC35B4 is a human ortholog of yeast UDP-GlcNAc transporter genes, namely, Kluyveromyces lactis mnn2-2 (30) and S. cerevisiae yea4 (31). This implies that the subfamily B comprises members with entirely different substrate specificities despite their structural conservation.
Silencing of PAPST2 gene expression in the colon cancer cell line revealed the involvement of PAPST2 in the synthesis of a sulfated epitope, sialyl 6-sulfo galactose
1,4 N-acetyl D-glucosamine (Fig. 6). The fucosylated derivative, namely, sialyl 6-sulfo Lex, is a major L-selectin ligand present on the high endothelial venules of the human peripheral lymph nodes for the initial adhesion of leukocytes to endothelial cells (27, 32-34). It has been proposed that sialyl 6-sulfo Lex serves as a ligand for selectins in routine trafficking of leukocytes, whereas nonsulfated sialyl Lex plays a major role in the inflammatory response (35, 36). PAPST2 may be involved in the function of these physiological routine processes, including the recruitment of gut-homing helper memory T lymphocytes, by regulating the sulfation of carbohydrate epitopes.
It is common knowledge that the risk of malignancy and recurrence of colorectal cancer is correlated with an increase in sialylation (13, 15, 16) and a decrease in the sulfation of carbohydrate epitopes (11-14). The sialyl 6-sulfo Lex (14) and 3'-sulfo-Lea (13, 17) are predominantly expressed in nonmalignant tissues but are not detected in the malignant tissues in colorectal cancers. Kumamoto et al. (37) reported that in colorectal cancers the expression of the UDP-Gal transporter increases significantly and results in the supply of the donor substrate for the synthesis of sialyl Lea and sialyl Lex. On the other hand, the colon cancer cell line HCT116 showed relatively low PAPST2 expression when compared with that of normal colon tissue. We could not find any colon cancer cell line that highly expressed PAPST2. The possibility that PAPST2 decreases the expression associated with the progression of colorectal cancer, as reported in the case of certain sulfotransferases (38-40) and a sulfate transporter (41), may be considered.
The RNAi of PAPST2 gene in the HCT116 cells reduced total sulfate incorporation into cellular proteins. The sulfotransferases have long been believed to be the rate-limiting components of the sulfation process; however, sulfation is also controlled by the components involved in the earlier steps, such as the sulfate transporters and PAPS synthetases (42). For instance, PAPS synthetases modulate PAPS levels in high endothelial venules and thus play a key role in the control of the sulfation state of L-selectin ligands and its functional activities (43-45). Furthermore, mutations in some genes involved in PAPS synthesis, such as diastrophic dysplasia sulfate transporter (DTDST) (46-49) and PAPS synthetase 2 (PAPSS2) (2, 50), are responsible for a form of human-inherited osteochondrodysplasias that results because of down-regulated sulfation of chondroitin sulfate in the cartilage. This evidence implies that PAPS production is a rate-limiting step for sulfation in certain tissues. Our investigation also demonstrated that the PAPS transporter is a rate-limiting factor in the sulfation of glycoconjugates in the colon cells. The PAPST2 protein showed a relatively low apparent Km value for PAPS (2.2 µM), although the precise kinetics of PAPST2 protein, excluding other factors, remains uncertain. The effect of the PAPS transporter would be significant if the Km value for PAPS would be lower than the Km value of the sulfotransferases in the Golgi lumen.
In the previous study, we reported that sll, the PAPST1 ortholog in Drosophila, is essential for viability of the fly (3). Lüders et al. (4) demonstrated that sll gene is involved in the signaling pathways and that the mutation of sll gene exhibits disrupted Wingless gradient and reduced Hedgehog signaling activity. Here, both PAPST1 and PAPST2 are shown to be Golgi-localized PAPS transporters. Most sulfation reactions of glycoconjugates, including proteoglycans (51), glycoproteins (52), and glycolipids (53), occur in the Golgi apparatus. Furthermore, tyrosine O-sulfation of the proteins occurs in the trans-Golgi network (54, 55). In most human tissues, the expression of PAPST2 is comparable with that of PAPST1 (Fig. 3). The PAPST1 and PAPST2 proteins have comparable Km values for PAPS (0.8 versus 2.2 µM, respectively). PAPST1 and PAPST2 may function in a manner that is complementary to each other. Further investigations are required to clarify the involvement and significance of PAPST1 and PAPST2 in these pathways.
| FOOTNOTES |
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* This work was supported by Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology of the Japan Science and Technology Agency and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. ![]()
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel./Fax: 81-426-91-8140; E-mail: shoko{at}t.soka.ac.jp.
2 The abbreviations used are: PAPS, 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate; FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate; Gal, galactose; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; GlcNAc, UDP-N-acetyl D-glucosamine; HA, influenza hemagglutinin epitope; Lex, Lewis x antigen, galactose
1,4 (fucose
1,3) N-acetyl D-glucosamine; Lea, Lewis a antigen, galactose
1,3 (fucose
1,4) N-acetyl D-glucosamine; mAb, monoclonal antibody; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; RNAi, RNA interference; siRNA, small interfering RNA; sll, slalom. ![]()
3 E. Goda and S. Nishihara, unpublished observation. ![]()
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