Recognition of arylsulfatase A and B by the UDP-N-acetylglucosamine:lysosomal enzyme N-acetylglucosamine-phosphotransferase.

The critical step for sorting of lysosomal enzymes is the recognition by a Golgi-located phosphotransferase. The topogenic structure common to all lysosomal enzymes essential for this recognition is still not well defined, except that lysine residues seem to play a critical role. Here we have substituted surface-located lysine residues of lysosomal arylsulfatases A and B. In lysosomal arylsulfatase A only substitution of lysine residue 457 caused a reduction of phosphorylation to 33% and increased secretion of the mutant enzyme. In contrast to critical lysines in various other lysosomal enzymes, lysine 457 is not located in an unstructured loop region but in a helix. It is not strictly conserved among six homologous lysosomal sulfatases. Based on three-dimensional structure comparison, lysines 497 and 507 in arylsulfatase B are in a similar position as lysine 457 of arylsulfatase A. Also, the position of oligosaccharide side chains phosphorylated in arylsulfatase A is similar in arylsulfatase B. Despite the high degree of structural homology between these two sulfatases substitution of lysines 497 and 507 in arylsulfatase B has no effect on the sorting and phosphorylation of this sulfatase. Thus, highly homologous lysosomal arylsulfatases A and B did not develop a single conserved phosphotransferase recognition signal, demonstrating the high variability of this signal even in evolutionary closely related enzymes.