Strain Detail: B3gat2 KO mice

This B3gat2 KO strain is a mouse strain lacking the B3gat2 (GlcAT-S) enzyme. B3gat2 (GlcAT-S) is an enzyme highly expressed in the nervous system and is responsible for the biosynthesis of an HNK-1 carbohydrate antigen. The HNK-1 carbohydrate antigen is biosynthesized by transferring glucuronic acid by GlcAT-P (B3gat1) or GlcAT-S (B3gat2) to the N-acetyllactosamine structure at the non-reducing end of the carbohydrate chain and then transferring the sulfate group by HNK-1ST. Since GlcAT-P (B3gat1) is the major glucuronosyltransferase involved in the synthesis of HNK-1 glycans in the brain, genetic deletion of GlcAT-S (B3gat2) causes little change in the expression of HNK-1 glycans in the brain. On the other hand, since GlcAT-S (B3gat2) is highly expressed in the kidney, deletion of this gene abolishes the expression of non-sulfated HNK-1 carbohydrate chains in the kidney (HNK-1ST is not expressed in the kidney and therefore does not undergo sulfation). It is known that the expression of non-sulfated HNK-1 sugar chains in the kidney increases with aging in wild-type mice. Since LacZ is incorporated in the knockout allele, the expression site of GlcAT-S (B3gat2) can be visualized using Xgal staining.

1. Yabuno K, Morise J, Kizuka Y, Hashii N, Kawasaki N, Takahashi S, Miyata S, Izumikawa T, Kitagawa H, Takematsu H, Oka S.　(2015) A Sulfated Glycosaminoglycan Linkage Region is a Novel Type of Human Natural Killer-1 (HNK-1) Epitope Expressed on Aggrecan in Perineuronal Nets. PLoS One. 10:e0144560. [PMID: 26659409]