On identifying the eukaryotic N-glycosylation scramblase by activity correlation profiling

The canonical pathway of N-linked protein glycosylation in yeast and humans involves transfer of the oligosaccharide moiety from the glycolipid Glc3Man9GlcNAc2-PP-dolichol to select asparagine residues in proteins that have been translocated into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Synthesis of Glc3Man9GlcNAc2-PP-dolichol occurs in two stages, producing first the key intermediate Man5GlcNAc2-PP-dolichol (M5-DLO) on the cytoplasmic face of the ER, followed by translocation of M5-DLO across the ER membrane to the luminal leaflet where the remaining glycosyltransfer reactions occur to complete the structure. Despite its critical importance for N-glycosylation, the scramblase protein that mediates the translocation of M5-DLO across the ER membrane has not been identified. Building on our ability to recapitulate scramblase activity in large unilamellar proteoliposomes reconstituted with a crude mixture of ER membrane proteins, we developed a mass spectrometry-based activity correlation profiling approach to identify scramblase candidates in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Curation of the activity correlation profiling data prioritized six polytopic ER membrane proteins as scramblase candidates, but reconstitution-based assays and gene disruption in the protist Trypanosoma brucei revealed, unexpectedly, that none of these proteins were necessary for M5-DLO scramblase activity. Our results instead suggest the possibility that the M5-DLO scramblase may be a protein, or protein complex, whose activity is regulated at the level of quaternary structure. This key insight will aid future attempts to identify the scramblase.