Formation of lipid-linked oligosaccharides by MOPC 315 plasmacytoma cells. Decreased synthesis by a nonsecretory variant.

MOPC 315 is a BALB/c plasmacytoma which secretes a trinitrophenol-binding IgA lambda 2 paraprotein. We have investigated the incorporation of [3H]mannose into lipid-linked oligosaccharide precursors in wild-type MOPC 315/J and variant nonsecretory 315/P cells. In pulse labeling experiments, no differences could be detected in the ability of the two cell types to incorporate [3H]mannose into lipid-linked oligosaccharides containing 5 or less mannose residues. In contrast, quantitation of the incorporation of [3H]mannose into larger lipid-linked oligosaccharides and proteins revealed a 49 and 40% decrease, respectively, in the 315/P cells compared to wild-type cells. Further characterization of the lipid-linked structures documented a marked decrease in glucosylated oligosaccharides isolated from 315/P cells. When membranes from the two cell lines were analyzed for their ability to transfer [3H]glucose from UDP-[3H]glucose to [3H]glucosylphosphoryldolichol, an apparent deficiency was noted in the 315/P preparations. However, if assay conditions were adjusted to include AMP in the reaction mixtures, no differences in the in vitro synthesis of [3H]glucosylphosphoryldolichol or [3H]glucose-labeled oligosaccharide-lipid could be detected. In these reactions AMP was found to prevent hydrolysis of UDP-[3H]glucose by inhibiting nucleotide pyrophosphatase (EC 3.6.1.9), the specific activity of which was determined to be more than 100 times greater in variant 315/P compared to wild-type MOPC 315/J cells. This large difference in specific activity was not accompanied by similar differences in the activity of several other enzymes analyzed. A decrease in whole cell UDP-glucose pool size was not detected in 315/P cells. Therefore, if nucleotide pyrophosphatase is important for the control of substrates for glycosylation, it must regulate nucleotide sugar levels at a site other than the cytoplasm of cells, perhaps at the location of synthesis of the larger lipid-linked oligosaccharides.