Structural basis for the resistance of Tay-Sachs ganglioside GM2 to enzymatic degradation

To understand the reason why, in the absence of GM2 activator protein, the GaLNAc and the NeuAc in GM2 (GalNAc beta 1-->4(NeuAc alpha 2-->3)Gal beta 1-->4Glc beta 1-1'Cer) are refractory to beta-hexosaminidase A and sialidase, respectively, we have recently synthesized a linkage analogue of GM2 named 6'GM2 (GalNAc beta 1-->6(NeuAc alpha 2-->3)Gal beta 1-->4Glc beta 1-1'Cer). While GM2 has GalNAc beta 1-->4Gal linkage, 6'-GM2 has GalNAc beta 1-->6Gal linkage (Ishida, H., Ito, Y,, Tanahashi, E., Li, Y.-T., Kiso, M., and Hasegawa, A (1997) Carbohydr. Res. 302, 223-227). We have studied the enzymatic susceptibilities of GM2 and 6'GM2, as well as that of the oligosaccharides derived from GM2, asialo-GM2 (GalNAc beta 1-->4Gal beta 1-->4Glc beta 1-1'Cer) and 6'GM2. In addition, the conformational properties of both GM2 and 6'GM2 were analyzed using NMR spectroscopy and molecular mechanics computation. In sharp contrast to GM2, the GalNAc and the Neu5Ac of 6'GM2 were readily hydrolyzed by beta-hexosaminidase A and sialidase, respectively, without GM2 activator. Among the oligosaccharides derived from GM2, asialo-GM2, and 6'GM2, only the oligosaccharide from GM2 was resistant to p-hexosaminidase A. Conformational analyses revealed that while GM2 has a compact and rigid oligosaccharide head group, 6'GM2 has an open spatial arrangement of the sugar units, with the GalNAc and the Neu5Ac freely accessible to external interactions. These results strongly indicate that the resistance of GM2 to enzymatic hydrolysis is because of the specific rigid conformation of the GM2 oligosaccharide.