We previously reported that knockout mice for α1,6-fucosyltransferase (Fut8), which catalyzes the biosynthesis of core-
fucose in N-
glycans, develop
emphysema and that Fut8 heterozygous knockout mice are more sensitive to cigarette
smoke-induced
emphysema than wild-type mice. Moreover, a lower FUT8 activity was found to be associated with a faster decline in lung function among
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (
COPD) patients. These results led us to hypothesize that core-fucosylation levels in a
glycoprotein could be used as a
biomarker for
COPD. We focused on a lung-specific
glycoprotein,
surfactant protein D (
SP-D), which plays a role in immune responses and is present in the distal airways, alveoli, and blood circulation. The results of a glycomic analysis reported herein demonstrate the presence of a core-
fucose in an N-
glycan on enriched
SP-D from pooled human sera. We developed an antibody-
lectin enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for assessing fucosylation (core-
fucose and α1,3/4
fucose) in
COPD patients. The results indicate that fucosylation levels in serum
SP-D are significantly higher in
COPD patients than in non-
COPD smokers. The severity of
emphysema was positively associated with fucosylation levels in serum
SP-D in smokers. Our findings suggest that increased fucosylation levels in serum
SP-D are associated with the development of
COPD.
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: It has been proposed that serum
SP-D concentrations are predictive of
COPD pathogenesis, but distinguishing between
COPD patients and healthy individuals to establish a clear cut-off value is difficult because smoking status highly affects circulating
SP-D levels. Herein, we focused on N-glycosylation in
SP-D and examined whether or not N-glycosylation patterns in
SP-D are associated with the pathogenesis of
COPD. We performed an N-glycomic analysis of human serum
SP-D and the results show that a core-
fucose is present in its N-
glycan. We also found that the N-glycosylation in serum
SP-D was indeed altered in
COPD, that is, fucosylation levels including core-fucosylation are significantly increased in
COPD patients compared with non-
COPD smokers. The severity of
emphysema was positively associated with fucosylation levels in serum
SP-D in smokers. Our findings shed new light on the discovery and/or development of a useful
biomarker based on glycosylation changes for diagnosing
COPD. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: HUPO 2014.