Beta-1,3-N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase 2 (b3GNT2)

b3GNT2 is a type II transmembrane protein. It prefers the substrate of lacto-N-neotetraose, and is involved in the biosynthesis of poly-N-acetyllactosamine chains. The protein, 83% identical and 90% similar to the 325-amino acid mouse sequence, has a potential 19-residue N-terminal type II transmembrane domain with a number of conserved motifs but distinct locations of the cys residues.Functional analysis showed that B3GNT has a marked preference for Gal(beta1-4)GlcNAc-based acceptors, whereas it has no activity on type-1 Gal(beta1-3)GlcNAc or O-glycan core-1 Gal(beta1-3)GalNAc acceptors.B3GNT could both initiate and elongate poly-N-acetyllactosamine chains, activities that confirmed its identity with poly-N-acetyllactosamine synthase.