Glycoprotein synthesis, lipids

Behrens, N.H., Carminatti, H., Staneloni, R.J., Leloir, L.F. Cantarella, A.I. (1973) Formation of Lipid-bound Oligosaccharides Containing Mannose. Their Role in Glycoprotein Synthesis , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 70, 3390-4... 

Mannose incorporation into the glycoprotein takes place initially on polypeptide acceptors at the level of ribosomes but the massive incorporation occurs in a cytoplasmic particulate preparation. The fact that the transfer activity is found in a particulate system was the basis for the discovery that membrane lipids play an essential role in glycoprotein synthesis. 

The precise function of many acute-phase proteins is not known. C-reactive protein binds lipids, whilst a-macroglobulin and ceruloplasmin can scavenge some reactive oxygen metabolites. However, many acute-phase proteins are glycoproteins and can bind to bacterial surfaces hence, they may serve as non-specific opsonins for phagocytosis, and their synthesis is stimulated by IL-1 and IL-6. 

S. L. Flitsch, H. L. Pinches, J. P. Taylor, and N. J. Turner, Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of a lipid-linked core trisaccharide of N-linked glycoproteins, J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. 1 2081 (1992). 

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