Streptococcus pneumoniaecapsular polysaccharide is linked to peptidoglycan via a direct glycosidic bond to β-D-N-acetylglucosamine

Streptococcus pneumoniae capsular polysaccharide is linked to peptidoglycan via a direct glycosidic bond to β-D-N-acetylglucosamine.

For many bacteria, including those important in pathogenesis, expression of a surface-localized capsular polysaccharide (CPS) can be critical for survival in host environments. In Gram-positive bacteria, CPS linkage is to either the cytoplasmic membrane or the cell wall. Despite the frequent occurrence and essentiality of these polymers, the exact nature of the cell wall linkage has not been de...

Altering O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine cycling disrupts mitochondrial function.

Mitochondrial impairment is commonly found in many diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer disease. We demonstrate that the enzymes responsible for the addition or removal of the O-GlcNAc modification, O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA), respectively, are critical regulators of mitochondrial function. Using a SILAC (stable isotope labeling of amino acids in cell culture)-...

Hemorrhagic shock and protein O-linked β-N- acetylglucosamine modification

Hsp90 regulates O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine transferase: a novel mechanism of modulation of protein O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine modification in endothelial cells.

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification of proteins is involved in many important cellular processes. Increased O-GlcNAc has been implicated in major diseases, such as diabetes and its complications and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, we reported that O-GlcNAc modification occurs in the proteasome and serves to inhibit proteasome function by blocking the ...

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine transferase is indispensable in the failing heart.

The failing heart is subject to elevated metabolic demands, adverse remodeling, chronic apoptosis, and ventricular dysfunction. The interplay among such pathologic changes is largely unknown. Several laboratories have identified a unique posttranslational modification that may have significant effects on cardiovascular function. The O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) posttranslational mo...