Abstract:
Methods and compositions have been described that relate to a newly identified polypeptide family wherein each member has O-glycosidase activity and specified sequence characteristics. This family of enzymes can be used for example for cleaving O-linked glycans and for synthesis of neoglycopeptides or neoglycoproteins.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Glycosylation is a common post-translational modification of proteins. Glycans are implicated in a wide range of biological events such as cell-cell interactions and recognition, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases (Ohtsubo and Marth Cell 126:855-867 (2006); Varki Glycobiology 3:97-130 (1993)). Detailed knowledge of glycan structures would facilitate structure-function correlations. This can be achieved by developing tools for highly sensitive analysis of glycan chains. For example, structural analysis of asparagine-linked carbohydrates (N-linked glycans) can be performed by releasing sugars from the protein backbone using enzymes such as PNGase F (Tarentino and  Plummer Methods Enzymol.  230:44-57 (1994)). The O-linked glycans are most commonly attached to serine or threonine residues through the GaINAc residue at the reducing end. So far there is no enzymatic way of releasing of O-glycans intact. Consequently, this is achieved by chemical methods, typically by β-elimination with mild alkali (Kakehi et al.  J Chromatogr A.  680:209-215 (1994)) or mild hydrazinolysis (Royle et al.  Anal Biochem.  304:70-90 (2002)). O-linked disaccharides (Core  1  type O-glycan) are among the most abundant core structures found in mucin glycoproteins, for example, the Thomsen-Freidenreich antigen (T antigen) immunodeterminant group and is used as a specific marker of carcinoma (Ohtsubo and Marth  Cell  126:855-867 (2006); Varki  Glycobiology  3:97-130 (1993)). 
         [0000]    To date, endo-α-GalNAcases have been purified from  Clostridium perfringens  (Huang and Aminoff  J Biol Chem.  247:6737-6742 (1972));  Streptococcus pneumoniae  (Umemoto et al.  J Biol Chem.  252:8609-8614 (1977), Glasgow et al.  J Biol Chem.  252:8615-8623 (1977) and Brooks and Savage  Glycoconj J.  14:183-190 (1997));  Alcaligenes  sp. (Fan et al.  Agric Biol Chem.  54:233-234 (1990));  Bacillus  sp. (Ashida et al.  Arch Biochem Biophys.  373:394-400 (2000));  Bifidobacterium longum  (Fujita et al.  J Biol Chem.  280:37415-37422 (2005) and U.S. Publication No. 2006/0223140); and  Streptomyces  (Ishii-Karakasa et al.  Biochem J.  288:475-482 (1992) and Ishii-Karakasa et al.  Eur J Biochem.  247:709-715 (1997)). All of the enzymes have a narrow substrate specificity, acting only on the α-linked disaccharide, Galβ1,3GalNAc. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0002]    In an embodiment of the invention, a polypeptide family is described for the first time in which each member is defined by: endo-α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (endo-α-GalNAcase), also called O-glycosidase activity; an amino acid sequence homology with EngBF measured by an expectation value of less than e −10  in a BLAST search; an amino acid sequence comprising SEQ ID NO:1; and an FDY amino acid sequence in a central conserved domain wherein the number of amino acids between the FDY and a C-terminal end of the polypeptide member is no more than 200 amino acids. In particular, the O-glycosidase activity may result in cleavage of a Core  1  and a Core  3  glycan. Another feature of the polypeptide family may include that each polypeptide has a sequence containing less than 1400 amino acids. Another feature of the polypeptide family may include an absence of a carbohydrate-binding domain at the C-terminal end. 
         [0003]    In another embodiment of the invention, the polypeptide member is a purified recombinant endo-α-glycosidase, the glycosidase being capable of cleaving a glycosidic bond in GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcαIρNP. 
         [0004]    In another embodiment of the invention, an isolated nucleic acid is provided that encodes a polypeptide member having at least 35% amino acid sequence identity with SEQ ID NO:2 wherein the polypeptide is capable of cleaving GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcαIρNP. 
         [0005]    In another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided that includes the steps of cleaving an O-linked glycan consisting of either Galβ1,3GalNAc or GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAc linked α1 to serine or threonine from a glycoprotein or glycopeptide with a polypeptide member characterized above, resulting in release of a disaccharide. 
         [0006]    In other embodiments, a method is provided for synthesis of a neoglycopeptide or neoglycoprotein using a polypeptide member in the polypeptide family. A method is also provided for (a) performing a BLAST search using a glycosidase in the family of glycosidases described in claim  1  to identify homologs with an expectation value of less than e −10 ; (b) determining the presence of SEQ ID NO:1 or a sequence having at least 90% identity with SEQ ID NO:1; (c) determining the presence of FDY and its location within 200 amino acids from the C-terminal end such that if (a), (b) and (c) are positive, verifying Core  1  and Core  3  glycosidase activity; and (d) preparing by synthesis or cloning, a polypeptide member of a polypeptide family as described above. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1A  shows a schematic representation of the putative endo-α-GalNAcases. Alignment of the putative endo-α-GalNAcases that were revealed by BLAST search against the protein sequence of EngBF and the identity results are shown. The grey shaded boxes correspond to the center-located conserved region, while the black and patterned boxes indicate different types of sugar-binding domains (SBD also referred to as CBD). CBM — 4 — 9: carbohydrate binding module (Pfam 02018), NPCBM: novel putative carbohydrate binding module (Pfam 08305), FIVAR: uncharacterized SBD (Pfam 07554) and F5-F8 type C: member of the galactose-binding domain-like superfamily (Pfam 00754). (The Pfam database is a database offered by the Wellcome Trust (London, UK) and is accessible through http://pfam.sanger.ac.uk. See also Finn et al.  Nucleic Acid Research  34:D247-D251 (2006)). 
           [0008]    The protein accession numbers are: B. longum (AAX4493.1) (EngBF),  R. torques  (ZP — 01966813) (EngRT),  B. capillosus  (ZP — 02035456),  S. pneumoniae  (YP — 873926.1) (EngSP),  E. faecalis  (NP — 815498.1) (EngEF),  Janibacter  sp. (ZP — 00993766.1) (EngJSP),  A. aurescens  (YP — 947239.1) (EngAA),  S. coelicolor  (NP — 630440.1) (EngSC),  P. acnes  (YP — 056270.1) (EngPA),  C. perfrigens  (YP — 695137.1) (EngCP). 
           [0009]      FIGS. 1B-1  to  1 B- 15  show a ClustalW alignment of amino acid sequences of the proteins of  FIG. 1A : EngEF.pep (SEQ ID NO:2), EngAA.pep (SEQ ID NO:4), EngBF.pep (SEQ ID NO:5), EngCP.pep (SEQ ID NO:6), EngJSP.pep (SEQ ID NO:7), EngPA.pep (SEQ ID NO:3), EngRT.pep (SEQ ID NO:8), EngSC.pep (SEQ ID NO:9), EngSP.pep (SEQ ID NO:10). 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  shows a purified endo-α-GalNAcases. SDS-PAGE analysis using 10-20% polyacrylamide gel, stained by Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250. Lane M: molecular mass standards, lane  1 : EngCP, lane  2 : EngEF and lane  3 : EngPA. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows TLC analysis of the reaction products using ρNP substrates and natural glycoproteins. Reaction mixtures were incubated with (lane+) and without (lane−) EngEF at 25° C. for 16 h. Lane  1 : Core  2  trisaccharide Galβ1,3(GlcNAcβ1,6)GalNAcα1ρNP, lane  2 : Core  3  disaccharide GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP, lane  3 : Galβ1,3GlcNAcα1ρNP disaccharide, lane  4 : GalNAcα1ρNP, monosaccharide, lane  5 : Core  1  disaccharide Gaβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP, lane  6 : Fetuin, lane  7 : Fetuin+Neuraminidase, lane  8 : Asialofetuin, lane  9 : k-casein glycopeptides, lane  10 : k-casein glycopeptides+Neuraminidase, lane  11 : Glycophorin A, lane  12 : Glycophorin A+Neuraminidase, lane  13 : Mucin glycopeptides, lane  14 : Mucin glycopeptides+Neuraminidase. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  shows a TLC analysis of the transglycosylation reactions of five different endo-α-GalNAcases EngCP, EngEF, EngPA, EngSP and EngAL. Transglycosylation of disaccharide Gaβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (A, B) or GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (C) to various 1-alkanols by endo-α-GalNAcases. Lane  1 : methanol, lane  2 : ethanol, lane  3 : 1-propanol, lane  4 : 1-butanol, lane  5 : 1-pentanol, lane  6 : 1-hexanol, lane  7 : 1-heptanol, lane  8 : 1-octanol, lane  9 : 1-nonalol and lane S: Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP. 
           [0013]      FIGS. 5-1  to  5 - 4  show a ClaustalW sequence comparison of EngEF (SEQ ID NO:2) , EngPA (SEQ ID NO:3)and EngAA (SEQ ID NO:4), in which the conserved amino acid sequences that characterize the family of proteins of which the sequences are members, are highlighted. The grey box denotes the portion of the sequence that has been deleted in EngAA*. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]    A family of novel O-linked glycosidases, which have broad enzyme specificity against Core  1  and Core  3  O-linked glycans, are described here. One or more of the following features can characterize these enzymes: 
         [0015]    (a) A sequence homology with EngBF as determined by a BLAST search in which the Expectation value is less than e −10  more specifically less than e −20 ; 
         [0016]    (b) VDWQDAA (SEQ ID NO: 1); 
         [0017]    (c) a C-terminal domain of no more than 200 amino acids measured from FDY in the central conserved region (see the grey shaded boxes in  FIG. 1 ); and 
         [0018]    (d) a length of no more than 1400 amino acids in length. In addition to the above features, the family of glycosidases generally lacking any carbohydrate-binding domain (CBD). 
         [0019]    A novel family of glycosidases have been cloned, purified and tested here. These enzymes possess both Core  3  and Core  1  O-glycan cleavage activity as demonstrated (see Tables I and II), for example, using Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP and GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP substrates as well as natural glycoproteins containing O-linked glycans that had been pre-treated with a neuraminidase. O-glycosidase activity generally refers to endo-α-N-acetyl galactosaminidase activity (endo-α-GalNAcase). Additional members of the family may be identified by means of a BLAST (Altschul et al.  Nucleic Acids Res.  25:3389-3402 (1997)) search using the open reading frame for EngEF or EngPA as described in Example 1. 
         [0020]    Examples of this family of O-glycosidases include EngEF, EngPA and a truncated EngAA (after removal of the two terminal CBDs). The amino acid sequences for these glycosidases are provided in  FIG. 5  and in  FIG. 1B , which also provides sequences for glycosidases with specificity for Core  1  O-linked glycans, demonstrated by cleavage with Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP.  FIG. 1A  shows a cartoon describing the relative positions of the central conserved domains and the CBDs. 
         [0021]    The glycosidases within the newly characterized family share a larger conserved region beyond required specific sequences as shown in  FIG. 1A . The central conserved domain is characterized by an overall % sequence identity of at least 4% greater than that observed for total protein (see Table III). 
         [0022]    The glycosidic activity profile of the newly described O-glycosidases makes these enzymes a powerful tool for the release of O-glycan sugars from glycoproteins. 
         [0023]    In addition to glycosidic activity, the glycosidases were also tested for transglycosylation activity. Transglycosylation can be achieved using a glycosidase to attach a monosaccharide or disaccharide to a substrate. This can be achieved by driving the glycosidic reaction backwards in the presence of an excess of end product more particularly an excess of a disaccharide containing Core  1  or Core  3  glycans. When incubated in the presence of Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP and several 1-alkanols, transglycosylation products could be detected up to 1-pentanol ( FIGS. 4A and 4B ) using the novel family of Endo-α-GalNAcases with a broad substrate specificity described here. A similar activity profile was observed using GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP as a donor and 1-alkanols as acceptors. 
         [0024]    The references cited herein, as well as U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/046,129 filed Apr. 18, 2008, are incorporated by reference. 
       EXAMPLES 
     Abbreviations 
       [0025]    Endo-α-GalNAcase: endo-α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase or O-glycosidase; ρNP: ρ-nitrophenol; TLC: thin layer chromatography; CBD: carbohydrade-binding domain; SBD: sugar-binding domain; Galβ1,3GalNAc: galactopyranosyl-β1,3-N-acetyl-D-galactosamine pyranoside; GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAc: N-acetyl-D-glucosaminepyranosyl-β1,3N-acetyl-D-galactosamine pyranoside; ORF: open reading frame; PCR: polymerase chain reaction. 
       Example 1  
     Endo-α-GalNAcases with a Broad Substrate Specificity 
       [0026]    A BLAST search (Altschul et al.  Nucleic Acids Res.  25:3389-3402(1997)) was performed using the EngBF protein sequence as a template. In this search, four potential glycosidases were selected from the BLAST results at a cut off expectation value of less than e −10  (and as low as 2e −96 ) and were cloned, purified and characterized. Two of these glycosidases were found to release Core  1  and Core  3  type O-glycans and a third was found to be a candidate for this activity if the sugar-binding domains were removed. 
         [0027]    The structural and functional features of 4 endo-α-GalNAcases were compared ( FIG. 1A ). These were (1) NP — 815498.1 of  Enterococcus faecalis  (EngEF) (2) YP — 056270.1 of  Propionibacterium acnes  (EngPA) that has an F5_F8 type C domain (member of the galactose-binding domain-like superfamily) close to the N-terminus, (3) YP — 947239.1 of  Arthobacter aurescens  (EngAA) that has two NPCBM domains (novel putative carbohydrate-binding module) at the C-terminus and (4) YP — 695137.1 of  Clostridium perfringens  (EngCP) that has a CBM4 — 9 domain. 
       Example 2 
     Cloning and Expression of the  E. faecalis  Endo-α-GalNAcase Gene (engEF) 
       [0028]    Based on the DNA sequence NP — 815498.1 of  Enterococcus faecalis , an oligonucleotide primer pair EFfor-NdeI (5′-CCCATATGAAACATGGAAAAATAAAACGATTTAGTAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:11), NdeI restriction site underlined) and EFrev-XhoI (5′-CCCTCGAGTTTTTTTGATTCCA CTGTGACCGTAAAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:12), XhoI restriction site underlined) was designed. The putative endo-α-GalNAcase gene was amplified by PCR using these primers and genomic DNA of  E. faecalis  ATCC 700802 as the template. The PCR reaction mixture was incubated in an Applied Biosystems (Foster City, Calif.) thermal cycler (model 2720) for 30 cycles of 98° C. for 10 sec, 56° C. for 30 sec and 72° C. for 2 min. The amplified product was isolated by agarose gel electrophoresis, gel purified using QIAEX (Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.) and digested with NdeI and XhoI (New England Biolabs, Inc., Ipswich, Mass.). The resulting NdeI/XhoI fragment was inserted into an appropriate vector, in this case the pET-21a vector (Novagen, EMD Chemicals, Inc., Gibbstown, N.Y.) previously digested with these enzymes. The ligation mixture was used to transform competent bacterial cells resulting in plasmid pET21a-engEF. Plasmid pET21a-engEF was introduced into T7 Express lysY  E. coli  strain (New England Biolabs, Inc., Ipswich, Mass.). The transformed cells were grown overnight at 30° C. with agitation in 20 ml LB medium (10 g/l tryptone, 5 g/l yeast extract, 10 g/l NaCl, 1 g/l dextrose, 1 g/l MgCl 2 ) containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin. This culture was used to inoculate 1000 ml of fresh medium and antibiotics. The incubation temperature was shifted at 25° C. and when the cultures reached an A600 of 0.6-0.7, isopropyl thio-β-D-galactopyranoside at 0.3 mM was added. Incubation continued for 12-14 h at 20° C. The cells were harvested by centrifugation (5.000 g for 20 min) and stored frozen at −70° C. 
       Example 3 
     Cloning and Expression of the  C. perfringens  Endo-α-GalNAcase Gene (engCP) 
       [0029]    Based on DNA sequence of YP — 695137.1 of  C. perfringens , an oligonucleotide primer pair CPfor-NdeI 
         [0000]    (5′-CCCATATGGGTAGAAAATGCATGAATAAGAAGATTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:13), NdeI restriction site underlined) and CPrev-XhoI (5′-CCCTCGAGTCTAGCAGTTCTAACAGTTATTGATTCCTTAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:14), XhoI restriction site underlined) was designed. The putative endo-α-GalNAcase gene was amplified by PCR using these primers and genomic DNA of  C. perfringens  ATCC 13124 as the template and the amplification conditions described in Example 2. The amplified gene was cloned and expressed as described in Example 2. 
       Example 4 
     Cloning and Expression of the  P. acnes  Endo-α-GalNAcase Gene (engPA) 
       [0030]    Based on DNA sequence of YP — 056270.1 of  P. acnes , the putative endo-α-GalNAcase gene was chemically synthesized. The codons were optimized for gene expression in  E. coli  using DNAWorks software (Hoover and Lubkowski  Nucleic Acids Res,  30, e43 (2002)). The optimized sequence was divided into six building blocks and synthesized (Hoover and Lubkowski  Nucleic Acids Res,  30, e43 (2002)). After the sequence of each block was verified, the full sized gene was assembled using the USER method (Bitinaite et al.  Nucleic Acids Res.  35:1992-2002 (2007)). Once assembled the synthesized engPA gene was amplified by PCR using the primer pair PA for (5 ′-GGAGACAUCCATATGAGTCGCACCC-3′) (SEQ ID NO:15) and PArev (5′-GGGAAAGUTTAACGACCTTGACGTGAAAC-3′) (SEQ ID NO: 16) and inserted into the corresponding sites of pNEB206A using the USER™ Friendly Cloning Kit (New England Biolabs, Inc., Ipswich, Mass.). The resulting plasmid pNEB206A-engPA was transformed and expressed as previously described in Example 2. 
       Example 5 
     Cloning and Expression of the Truncated  A. aurescens  Endo-α-GalNAcase Gene (EngAA*) 
       [0031]    Based on DNA sequence of YP — 947239.1 of  A. aurescens , an oligonucleotide primer pair AAUR-noNPCBM-NdeI (5′-CCCCCCCATATGCCCCGCTTGTCATCCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:17), NdeI restriction site underlined) and AAUR-noNPCBM-HindIII (5′-CCCCCCAAGCTTCAGCGTCCGCACGGTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:18), HindIII restriction site underlined) was designed to remove the signal sequence from the N-terminus of the protein and the two NPCBM domains at the C-terminus. The truncated endo-α-GalNAcase gene (EngAA*) was amplified by PCR using these primers and genomic DNA of  A. aurescens  TC1 as the template. The PCR reaction mixture was incubated in an Applied Biosystems thermal cycler (model 2720) (Foster City, Calif.) for 30 cycles at 98° C. for 10 sec, and 72° C. for 1 min 40 sec. The amplified product was isolated by agarose gel electrophoresis, gel purified using QIAEX (Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.) and digested with NdeI and HindIII (New England Biolabs, Inc., Ipswich, MA). The resulting NdeI/HindIII fragment was inserted into an appropriate vector, in this case the pET-21a vector (Novagen, EMD Chemicals, Inc., Gibbstown, N.Y.) previously digested with these enzymes. The ligation mixture was used to transform competent bacterial cells resulting in plasmid pETAAUR — 1465. The plasmid pETAAUR — 1465 was introduced into SHuffle™ T7 Express LysY Competent  E. coli  (New England Biolabs, Inc., Ipswich, Mass.). The transformed cells were grown overnight at 30° C. with agitation in 2 ml LB medium (10 g/l tryptone, 5 g/l yeast extract, 10 g/l NaCl, 1 g/l dextrose, 1 g/l MgCl2) containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin. This culture was used to inoculate 100 ml of fresh medium and antibiotics. When the cultures reached an A600 of 0.5-0.6, isopropyl thio-β-D-galactopyranoside at 0.8 mM was added. Incubation continued for 4 h at 30° C. The cells were harvested by centrifugation (5.000 g for 20 min) and stored frozen at −20° C. 
       Example 6 
     Method for Purification of the Expressed Endo-α-GalNAcase EngEF 
       [0032]    All procedures were performed either on ice or at 4° C. Ten grams of frozen cells obtained above were thawed in 30 ml of 20 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 200 mM NaCl, 1 mM dithiothreitol and were sonicated (6×20 sec with 30 sec intervals) using a Sonicator Ultrasonic processor model-375 (Misonix, Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y.). Sample was subsequently centrifuged at 10,000 g for 15 min and the supernatant was collected for further purification. 
         [0033]    The cell extract was diluted 3 fold with a buffer containing 20 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6 (buffer A), applied onto a HisTrap™ Q HP column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) previously equilibrated in Buffer A and eluted with a linear gradient of 0-1 M NaCl in Buffer A. Fractions containing the enzyme were eluted in ˜0.2-0.75 M NaCl from the column. These fractions were applied to a HisTrap™ HP column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) previously equilibrated with Buffer B (20 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 500 mM NaCl), followed by elution with a linear gradient of 0-0.5 M imidazole in Buffer B. The enzyme was eluted at the concentration range of 0.06-0.27 M imidazole. These fractions were combined, dialyzed overnight against Buffer A and subsequently applied onto a Source 15Q column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) previously equilibrated in Buffer A. Proteins were eluted with a linear gradient of 0.1-0.23 M NaCl in Buffer A. Active EngEF were eluted in 0.14-0.18 M NaCl fractions, which were then combined and concentrated with a Amicon Centricon Concentrator 10 (Millipore, Billerica, Mass.) to about 5 ml. Concentrated samples were loaded onto a Superdex 75 column previously equilibrated with Buffer C (20 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 200 mM NaCl), and washed with Buffer C; and fractions with EngEF activity were pooled and concentrated. After the addition of glycerol at 50%, the purified enzyme preparation was stored at −20° C. Enzyme purity was judged by gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions (Laemmli  Nature  227:680-685 (1970)). Protein concentration was determined using Bradford&#39;s dye binding assay (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, Calif.) (Bradford  Anal Biochem.  72:248-254 (1976)) with bovine serum albumin as the protein standard. 
       Example 7 
     Method for Purification of the Expressed Endo-α-GalNAcase EngCP 
       [0034]    All procedures were performed either on ice or at 4° C. Ten grams of frozen cells obtained above were thawed in 30 ml of 20 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 200 mM NaCl, 1 mM dithiothreitol and were sonicated (6×20 sec with 30 sec intervals) using a Sonicator Ultrasonic processor model-375 (Misonix, Farmingdale, N.Y.). Sample was subsequently centrifuged at 10,000 g for 15 min and the supernatant was collected for further purification. 
         [0035]    The cell extract was diluted 3 fold with Buffer A, applied onto a (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) 15Q column previously equilibrated in the same buffer and eluted with a linear gradient of 0-1 M NaCl in Buffer A. Fractions in ˜0.3-0.45 M NaCl containing the enzyme were eluted from the column and applied onto a HisTrap™ HP column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) previously equilibrated with buffer B, followed by elution with a linear gradient of 0-0.5 M imidazole in buffer B. The enzyme was eluted in a concentration range of 0.12-0.19 M imidazole. These fractions were combined, dialyzed overnight against Buffer D (20 mM Sodium acetate pH 6.0) and subsequently applied onto a Source 15S column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) previously equilibrated in Buffer D. Proteins were eluted with a linear gradient of 0-1 M NaCl in Buffer D. Active EngCP (corresponding to 0.45-0.60 M NaCl) fractions were combined and concentrated with a Amicon Centricon Concentrator 10 (Millipore, Billerica, Mass.) to about 5 ml. Concentrated samples were loaded onto a Superdex 75 column previously equilibrated with Buffer E (20 mM Sodium acetate pH 6.0, 200 mM NaCl), and washed with Buffer E; and fractions with EngCP activity were pooled and concentrated. After the addition of glycerol at 50%, the purified enzyme preparation was stored at -20° C. 
       Example 8 
     Method for Purification of the Expressed Endo-α-GalNAcase EngPA 
       [0036]    All procedures were performed either on ice or at 4° C. Ten grams of frozen cells obtained above were thawed in 30 ml of 20 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 200 mM NaCl, 1 mM dithiothreitol and were sonicated (6×20 sec with 30 sec intervals) using a Sonicator Ultrasonic processor model-375 (Misonix, Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y.) he supernatant was collected for further purification. 
         [0037]    The cell extract was diluted 3 fold with Buffer A, applied to a Source 15Q column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) previously equilibrated in the same buffer and collected in the flow through where most EngPA was detected. The fractions were dialyzed against Buffer D. The dialyzed sample was applied onto a Source 15S column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) previously equilibrated in Buffer D, followed by elution with a linear gradient of 0-1 M NaCl in Buffer D. Active EngPA (corresponded to 0.31-0.36 M NaCl) fractions were combined, concentrated (5 ml) and loaded onto a Superdex 75 column previously equilibrated with Buffer E. Column was washed with Buffer E and fractions with EngPA activity were pooled and concentrated. After the addition of glycerol at 50%, the purified enzyme preparation was stored at −20° C. 
       Example 9 
     Method for Purification of the Expressed Truncated Endo-α-GalNAcase EngAA* 
       [0038]    All procedures were performed either on ice or at 4° C. 1 gram of frozen cells obtained above were thawed in 10 ml of 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.5, 50 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 0.2 mM PMSF and were sonicated (5×20 sec with 30 sec intervals) using a Sonicator Ultrasonic processor model-375 (Misonix, Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y.). Sample was subsequently centrifuged at 20,000 g for 20 min and the supernatant was discarded. 
         [0039]    The pellet containing the inclusion bodies was washed two times by resuspending the pellet in 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 200 mM NaCl, 1% Triton-X100 by vortexing and centrifuged at 20.000 g for 20 min. The resulting pellet was resuspended in 5 ml Buffer B +PMSF (100 mM NaPO 4 , 10 mM Tris-HCl, 8 M Urea, 0.2 mM PMSF, pH 8.0). This suspension was incubated slowly rotating at 25° C. to solubilze the protein pellet for 1.5 hr. After incubation the protein suspension was diluted with 10 ml of Buffer B. The sample was dialyzed overnight at 4° C. against 2 liters of 100 mM NaH 2 PO 4 , 10 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0. The next day any insoluble material was removed by centrifugation at 20,000 g for 20 min. The buffer of the solubilzed protein (the supernatant) was exchanged and concentrated to 2 ml using a 5 KD Amicon filter (Millipore, Billerica, Mass.) with two washes of 50 mM NaPO 4 , 5 mM MgCl 2 , pH7.5. After the addition of glycerol at 50%, the partially purified enzyme preparation was stored at −20° C. 
       Example 10 
     Characterization of Endo-α-GalNAcase Activity 
       [0040]    a) Substrate specificity on ρNP substrates 
         [0041]    The hydrolytic activity of the the purified enzymes EngCP, EngEF, EngPA and the commercially available EngSP and EngAL were assayed using Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (Core  1 ), 
       GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (Core  3 ), 
       [0042]    Galβ1,3(GlcNAcβ1,3)GalNAcα1ρNP (Core  2 ), Galβ1,3GlcNAcα1ρNP and GalNAcα1ρNP as substrates and the released sugars were detected by colorimetric assay (Table I). Partially purified EngAA* was assayed using Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (Core  1 ), 
       GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (Core  3 ), 
       [0043]    Galβ1,3(GlcNAcβ1,3)GalNAcα1ρNP (Core  2 ) (Table I). The standard reaction mixture contained in a total volume of 100 μl, 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl 2  and 0.25 mM substrate. The released ρ-nitrophenol (ρNP) was monitored by a 96-well plate reader (SpectraMax M5, Molecular Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.) at 405 nm at room temperature. Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP was hydrolyzed at the most rapid rate by all enzymes tested. After a 16 h incubation, EngEF, EngPA and EngAA* were the only enzymes capable of fully hydrolyzing the Core  3  disaccharide (GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP). EngAL could partially hydrolyze it (27%) (Table I). EngAL could also partially release GalNAc while the rest of the enzymes released only traces of the monosaccharide (Table I). None of the enzymes tested could act on Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP and only EngAA* had significant activity that was detected when Core  2  trisaccharide was used as substrate (Galβ1,3(GlcNAcβ1,6)GalNAcα1ρNP) (Table I).
 
b) Substrate specificity on ρNP and glycoproteins using TLC
 
         [0044]    The substrate specificity was also determined for EngEF on TLC using various ρNP glycosides and natural glycoproteins. Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP, GlcNAcβ1, 3GalNAcα1ρNP, Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP, GalNAcα1ρNP, calf k-casein, human glycophorin A, porcine mucin, calf fetuin, and calf asialofetuin were purchased from Sigma Alrich (St. Louis, Mo.). Galβ1,3(GlcNAcβ1,6)GalNAcα1ρNP was from Toronto Research Chemicals Inc. (North York, Ontario, Canada). For thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis, a Silica Gel 60 plate (Merck, Whitehouse Station, N.J.) was developed in a solvent system of chloroform/methanol/water, 3/3/1 (v/v/v), and the sugars were visualized by spraying diphenylamine/aniline/phosphate reagent (Bailey and Bourne  J Chromatogr.  4:206-213 (1960)). 
         [0045]    Calf K-casein, human glycophorin A, porcine mucin, calf fetuin, and calf asialofetuin were incubated with EngEF. Based on the TLC analysis, sugars were only released when asialofetuin and mucin were used as substrates ( FIG. 3 ). Co-incubating the substrates with neuraminidase increased the ability of the enzyme to release sugars. The released sugars migrated at the same height on the TLC plate as the Core  1  and  3  disaccharides ( FIG. 3 ). 
       c) Optimum pH 
       [0046]    The pH dependence of enzyme activity was determined for EngEf, EngCP and EngPA in pH range 2.0-9.0 using the following buffers (50 mM): glycine-HCl (2.0-4.0), sodium acetate (3.5-6.0), sodium phosphate (5.5-8.0), and Tris-HCl (7.0-9.0). The pH dependence can be similarly determined for EngAA*. 
         [0000]    d) Steady-state enzyme kinetics 
         [0047]    Glycosidases purified as described above were used for the kinetics measurements for EngEF, EngCP and EngPA. Endo-α-GalNAcases from  Streptococcus pneumoniae  (EngSP) and  Alcaligenes  sp. (EngAL) were purchased from Roche (Basel, Switzerland) and Seikagaku Corporation (Tokyo, Japan), respectively. Steady-state enzyme kinetics were performed at 25° C. The program HYPER v 1.01 was used to determine V max  and K m  values. The k cat  values were calculated from V max  using a molecular mass of 188000 Da for EngCP, 147000 Da for EngEF, 142000 Da for EngPA, 190000 Da for EngSP and 160000 Da for EngAL. Reported values were the average of three measurements. The standard deviations did not exceed 5%. 
         [0048]    The enzyme kinetics of EngCP, EngEF, EngPA, EngSP and EngAL was measured using Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP and GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (Table II). When Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP was used, EngEF exhibited the highest k cat  and EngPA had the lowest, about 25 times lower than EngEF activity. In the case of GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP, the kinetic parameters could be measured only for EngPA and EngEF. EngPA was more active than EngEF and had 3 times higher k cat . The enzyme kinetics can be similarly determined for EngAA*. 
         [0000]    e) Transglycosylation activity 
         [0049]    The transglycosylation reaction mixture contained in a total volume of 15 μl, 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.5, 5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.8 mM GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP or 1.6 mM Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP as substrates, 0.8 μg of endo-α-GalNAcase, and various 1-alcanols as acceptors (13%, v/v) at room temperature for 16 h. Methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-hexanol, 1-heptanol, 1-octanol and 1-nonalol were purchased from Sigma Aldrich (St. Louis, Mo.). The transglycosylation reaction mixtures were analyzed on a Silica Gel 60 TLC plate using chloroform/methanol/water 65/35/8 as the developing solvent and the sugars were visualized by spraying diphenylamine/aniline/phosphate reagent. 
         [0050]    EngCP, EngEF, EngPA, EngSP and EngAL all exhibited similar transglycosylation activity. The transglycosylation products could be detected up to 1-pentanol ( FIGS. 4A and 4B ). While EngEF and EngPA which were capable of fully hydrolyzing 
         [0000]    GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP compared to the quite low activity of the rest of the endo-α-GalNAcases (Table I), no significant difference was observed in the transglycosylation products using EngEF, EngPA and EngSP with GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP as donor and 1-alkanols as acceptors ( FIG. 4C ). The transglycosylation activity can be similarly determined for EngAA*. 
         [0000]                                                                                          TABLE I                   Substrate specificity using pNP substrates                Eng   Eng   Eng   Eng   Eng   Eng           CP   EF   PA   SP   AL   AA*                % product released                        Galβ1,3GalNAcα1pNP   100   100   100   100   100   100       Core 1       Galβ1,3(GlcNAcβ1,6)GalNAcα1pNP   2.5   2   0   0.6   0    24       Core 2       GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1pNP   6   100   100   3   27   100       Core 3       Galβ1,3GlcNAcα1pNP   0   0   0   0   0   NT       GalNAcα1pNP   4.4   2.2   1.8   1.2   30   NT                    
Reaction mixtures were incubated with the different endo-α-GalNAcases at 25° C. for 16 h. Product release was measured at 405 nm. NT=not tested.
 
         [0000]                                      TABLE II               Kinetic parameters of endo-α-GalNAcases       using Galβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (Core 1) and        GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAcα1ρNP (Core 3) as substrates                                    Core 1   k cat  (1/sec)   K m  (μM)                       EngCP   19.9   70.93           EngEF   51.17   47.85           EngPA   2.009   3.781           EngSP   10.51   40.37           EngAL   25.89   33.87           EngBF #   17.8   21.8                       Core 3   k cat  (1/sec)   K m  (mM)                       EngEF   9.434   20.03           EngPA   28.9   11.15                        
Data from Fujita et al.  J Biol Chem.  280:37415-37422 (2005).
 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE III 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 BESTFIT Analysis of endo-α-GalNAcases-  
               
               
                 % Identity and % Similarity 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Total Protein 
                 Conserved Region 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Proteins Compared 
                 % Identity 
                 % Similarity 
                 % Identity 
                 % Similarity 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 EngEF to EngPA 
                 35.2 
                 43.8 
                 39.2 
                 47.6 
               
               
                 EngAA to EngEF 
                 38.7 
                 47.0 
                 44.1 
                 52.4 
               
               
                 EngPA to EngAA 
                 44.9 
                 51.8 
                 50.2 
                 56.8