Glycosylation patterns of membrane proteins of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata

Integral and membrane-associated proteins extracted from neuron-enriched perirhopalial tissue of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata were probed with a panel of lectins that recognize sugar epitopes of varying complexity. Of the 13 lectins tested, only concanavalin A, jacalin lectin and tomato lectin stained distinct bands on Western blots, indicating the presence of repeating alpha-1,6-mannoses, terminal Gal-alpha-1,6-GalNAc and repeating beta-1,4-linked GlcNAc, respectively. In whole-mounted perirhopalial tissue, jacalin lectin stained several cell types, including neurons, muscle, cilia and mucus strands. Tomato lectin stained secretory cells intensely, and neurons in a punctate fashion. Concanavalin A stained cytoplasmic epitopes in both ecto- and endodermal cells, and ectodermal secretory cells and the mucus strands emanating from them. With the exception of tomato lectin's sugar epitope, the other sugar epitopes identified in this study are "non-complex". This study suggests that while glycosylation of integral and membrane-associated proteins occurs in Cyanea, the sugars post-translationally linked to these proteins tend to be simple.