Glycosylation Limits Forward Trafficking of the Tetraspan Membrane Protein PMP22

Peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) folds and traffics inefficiently, a phenomenon closely related to the mechanisms by which this tetraspan membrane protein causes Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMTD). We report that elimination of N-glycosylation results in a 3-fold increase in the cell surface trafficking of wild type (WT) PMP22 and a 10-fold increase in trafficking of the unstable L16P disease mutant form. Studies of the interactions of PMP22 with oligosaccharyltransferases A and B as well as quantitative proteomic experiments established that critical endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control decisions occur earlier in the biogenesis to cell surface trafficking pathway for the L16P mutant than for WT. CRISPR knock-out cell lines for ER proteins calnexin, RER1, and UGGT1 illuminated the role of each protein in glycosylation dependent and independent surface trafficking of WT PMP22, as well as for a series of disease mutants of varying folding stabilities. One Sentence SummaryN-linked glycosylation was seen to dramatically limit the cell surface trafficking of PMP22, with some key quality control factors in PMP22 biogenesis being identified.