The Early Stages of Asparagine-Linked Glycosylation

Abstract

Asparagine-linked glycosylation (N-glycosylation) occurs on many secretory and membrane proteins synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the past three decades, most, if not all, of the genes involved in the biosynthesis of N-glycans have been identified. However, much remains unknown about mechanisms by which N-glycosylation is regulated, thereby hampering our integrative understanding of the biological modulatory functions of this posttranslational modification. In this mini-review, I will summarize our recent knowledge on the early steps of N-glycan biosynthesis in biochemical and structural biological points of view.