O-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine moiety on discrete peptide of multiple protein 4.1 isoforms regulated by alternative pathways.

Erythrocyte protein 4.1 is a cytoplasmic protein that possesses a protein-saccharide modification structure, an O-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) moiety. We determined the amino acid sequence of the proteolytic fragment containing the O-GlcNAc moiety after labeling the saccharide with [3H]galactose in the presence of bovine milk galactosyltransferase. Glycosylation appears to occur on one or more serine or threonine residues in the following sequence: Thr-Ala-Gln-Thr-Ile-Thr-Ser-Glu-Thr-Pro-Ser-Ser-Thr-Thr-Thr-Thr-Gln-Ile-Thr-Lys . This sequence corresponds to the carboxyl-terminal half of the 34-amino acid peptide in the 22/24-kDa carboxyl-terminal domain of protein 4.1, which is one of the discrete peptides regulated by alternative RNA splicing. Multiple protein 4.1 isoforms in erythroid and nonerythroid cells including major components of erythrocyte membrane proteins, 4.1a and 4.1b, appear to contain this sequence since most immunochemically reactive proteins were labeled with [3H]galactose, with the exception of several variant polypeptides. These results appear to suggest the functional or biological significance of the O-GlcNAc linkage in protein 4.1.