The beta-glucan synthase from Lolium multiflorum. Detergent solubilization, purification using monoclonal antibodies, and photoaffinity labeling with a novel photoreactive pyrimidine analogue of uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose.

The membrane-bound beta-glucan synthase from Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) endosperm cells has been solubilized by both non-ionic and zwitterionic detergents. A complex relationship exists between the ratio of (1----3)-, (1----4)-, and (1----3, 1----4)-beta-glucan products of the solubilized enzyme, the cations present, and the concentration of the uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose substrate. Monoclonal antibodies directed against the beta-glucan synthase complex were generated by immunization of mice with an unfractionated microsomal reparation. Hybridoma cell lines were screened using a combination of indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay followed by an enzyme-capture assay. The purified monoclonal antibodies were used with Pan-sorbin (stablized protein A-bearing staphylococcal cells) to immunoprecipitate an active beta-glucan synthase complex which had been solubilized from a microsomal preparation with 0.6% CHAPS. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of the immunoprecipitated synthase complex revealed four major polypeptides of apparent molecular mass 30, 31, 54, and 58 kDa together with several minor components. The immunoprecipitated beta-glucan synthase complex was capable of synthesizing both (1----3)- and (1----4)-beta-glucans. A new photoreactive pyrimidine analogue of uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose, 5-[3-(p-azidosalicylamide]allyl-uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose was synthesized in a three-step reaction sequence involving mercuration of UDP-Glc, alkylation of 5-Hg-UDP-Glc, and acylation of 5-(3-amino)allyl-UDP-Glc and characterized by chemical and spectroscopic analysis. The analogue inhibits (Kiapp 16 microM) and, upon UV irradiation, irreversibly inactivates the beta-glucan synthase. The analogue was iodinated with Na125I to give a radiolabeled, photoreactive compound, and was used in photoaffinity labeling of UDP-Glc pyrophosphorylase, UDP-Glc dehydrogenase, and several putative UDP-Glc-binding proteins from L. multiforum. The radiolabeled analogue specifically labeled the 31-kDa polypeptide in the immunoprecipitated synthase complex. The photolabeling of this polypeptide is strictly dependent on UV irradiation, is blocked by uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose and uridine 5'-diphosphate, and reaches saturation at analogue concentrations above 300 microM. These results indicate that the 31-kDa polypeptide in the beta-glucan synthase complex bears a uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose-binding site and is involved in the catalysis of beta-glucan synthesis.