Quantitative Characterization of the Amount and Length of (1,3)-β-D-glucan for Functional and Mechanistic Analysis of Fungal (1,3)-β-D-glucan Synthase

Abstract

(1,3)-β-d-Glucan synthase (GS) is an essential enzyme for fungal cell wall biosynthesis that catalyzes the synthesis of (1,3)-β-d-glucan, a major and vital component of the cell wall. GS is a proven target of antifungal antibiotics including FDA-approved echinocandin derivatives; however, the function and mechanism of GS remain largely uncharacterized due to the absence of informative activity assays. Previously, a radioactive assay and reducing end modification have been used to characterize GS activity. The radioactive assay determines only the total amount of glucan formed through glucose incorporation and does not report the length of the polymers produced. The glucan length has been characterized by reducing end modification, but this method is unsuitable for mechanistic studies due to the very high detection limit of millimolar amounts and the labor intensiveness of the technique. Consequently, fundamental aspects of GS catalysis, such as the polymer length specificity, remain ambiguous. We have developed a size exclusion chromatography (SEC)-based method that allows detailed functional and mechanistic characterization of GS. The approach harnesses the pH-dependent solubility of (1,3)-β-d-glucan, where (1,3)-β-d-glucan forms water-soluble random coils under basic pH conditions, and can be analyzed by SEC using pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) and radioactivity counting (RC). This approach allows quantitative characterization of the total amount and length of glucan produced by GS with minimal workup and a d-glucose (Glc) detection limit of ~100 pmol. Consequently, this approach was successfully used for the kinetic characterization of GS, providing the first detailed mechanistic insight into GS catalysis. Due to its sensitivity, the assay is applicable to the characterization of GS from any fungi and can be adapted to study other polysaccharide synthases.