The effect of tunicamycin on the glycosylation of lactating-rabbit mammary glycoproteins.

1. Tunicamycin inhibited the incorporation of d-[2-(3)H]mannose into dolichol-linked oligosaccharide and glycoprotein of lactating-rabbit mammary explants by approximately the same extent (approx. 30% of control value), suggesting that lipid-linked intermediates are involved in the mannosylation of mammary glycoproteins. 2. The incorporation of radioactivity from N-acetyl-d-[1-(14)C]glucosamine into dolichol-linked oligosaccharide was inhibited by tunicamycin to 32% of the control value, whereas the incorporation of the radiolabel into glycoprotein was only inhibited to 72% of the control value. 3. Considerable redistribution of label from N-acetylglucosamine to N-acetylgalactosamine was found to occur in the explants. In the presence of tunicamycin approx. 76% of the radioactivity incorporated into glycoprotein from N-acetyl-d-[1-(14)C]glucosamine was present as N-acetylgalactosamine, compared with approx. 61% in the absence of the inhibitor. Thus tunicamycin selectively inhibits the incorporation of N-acetylglucosamine into glycoprotein. 4. Radioactivity from N-acetyl-d-[1-(14)C]glucosamine was incorporated into a glycoprotein that was identified as casein by the use of a casein-specific antiserum, and also into a group of glycopolypeptides with apparent mol.wts. ranging between 40000 and 80000. N-Acetylgalactosamine was the only radioactive sugar released on strong-acid hydrolysis of the immunoprecipitated casein, whereas N-acetylglucosamine was the major radioactive residue present in the non-casein glycoproteins. Glucosamine and galactosamine were the only radiolabelled sugars detected by paper chromatography of the strong-acid hydrolysate of the protein fraction. 5. Tunicamycin inhibited the incorporation of radioactivity from N-acetyl-d-[1-(14)C]glucosamine into the glycopolypeptides with mol.wts. between 40000 and 80000 as described by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, but did not affect the incorporation of label into casein. It appears that tunicamycin inhibits the incorporation of mannose and N-acetylglucosamine into a number of mammary glycoproteins by inhibiting the formation of lipid-linked intermediates, but does not inhibit the incorporation of N-acetylgalactosamine into casein.