Deletion of two exons from the Lymnaea stagnalis beta 1->4-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase gene elevates the kinetic efficiency of the encoded enzyme for both UDP-sugar donor and acceptor substrates

Lymnaea stagnalis UDP-GlcNAc:GlcNAc beta-R beta 1-->4-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (beta 4-GlcNAcT) is an enzyme with structural similarity to mammalian UDP-Gal: GlcNAc beta-R beta 1-->4-galactosyltransferase (beta 4-GalT). Here, we report that also the exon organization of the genes encoding these enzymes is very similar. The beta 4-GlcNAcT gene (12.5 kilobase pairs, spanning 10 exons) contains four exons, encompassing sequences that are absent in the beta 4-GalT gene. Two of these exons (exons 7 and 8) show a high sequence similarity to part of the preceding exon (exon 6), suggesting that they have originated by exon duplication. The exon in the beta 4-GalT gene, corresponding to beta 4-GlcNAcT exon 6, encodes a region that has been proposed to be involved in the binding of UDP-Gal. The question therefore arose, whether the repeating sequences encoded by exon 7 and 8 of the beta 4-GlcNAcT gene would determine the specificity of the enzyme for UDP-GlcNAc, or for the less preferred UDP-GalNAc. It was found that deletion of only the sequence encoded by exon 8 resulted in a completely inactive enzyme. By contrast, deletion of the amino acid residues encoded by exons 7 and 8 resulted in an enzyme with an elevated kinetic efficiency for both UDP-sugar donors, as well as for its acceptor substrates. These results suggest that at least part of the donor and acceptor binding domains of the beta 4-GlcNAcT are structurally linked and that the region encompassing the insertion contributes to acceptor recognition as well as to UDP-sugar binding and specificity.