Alternative titles; symbols
HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: FUT4
Cytogenetic location: 11q21 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38) : 11:94,543,921-94,549,895 (from NCBI)
Fucosyltransferase-4 (FUT4) preferentially transfers a fucose to the GlcNAc residue at the inner lactosamine unit of the polylactosamine chain (summary by Nakayama et al., 2001).
In human/mouse myeloid cell hybrids, Geurts van Kessel et al. (1984) tested for reactivity with monoclonal antibodies with known myelocytic, monocytic, or myelomonocytic specificity. Twenty antibodies, all of which bound specifically to the surface of human myeloid cells, exhibited similar reactivity patterns with the hybrid clones. Chromosomal analysis showed that the gene or genes involved in expression of the 1 or more antigens recognized by these antibodies must be located on human chromosome 11q12-qter. This myeloid-associated surface antigen was designated CD15 in the CD system.
Tetteroo et al. (1987) found that alpha-3-fucosyltransferase activity correlated with the presence of human chromosome 11 in human-mouse myeloid cell hybrids. Also, several other myeloid-associated carbohydrate antigens, e.g., LeX (CD15), were associated with chromosome 11. Tetteroo et al. (1987) concluded that an alpha-3-fucosyltransferase gene on chromosome 11 is responsible for synthesis of these antigens.
Couillin et al. (1991) identified an alpha-3-fucosyltransferase on chromosome 11q, FUT4, that transferred fucose onto H type 2 more efficiently than onto sialyl-N-acetyllactosamine, suggesting that it is the myeloid type of alpha-3-fucosyltransferase that makes the 3-fucosyllactosamine epitope (CD15) on polymorphonuclear cells and monocytes.
Of the fucosyltransferases examined by Cailleau-Thomas et al. (2000), only FUT4 and FUT9 (606865) were expressed during human embryogenesis; all of the others showed irregular or weak expression. By Northern blot analysis of 40- to 70-day-old embryos, they found increasing expression of 6-, 3-, and 2.3-kb FUT4 transcripts. Analysis of fetal tissues revealed abundant expression in liver, muscle, kidney, skin, and small intestine, and moderate expression in brain, lung, and heart. The transcript size varied in different tissues. In adult tissues, highest expression was found in lung and small intestine, low expression in kidney, liver, and brain, and no expression in 12 other tissues tested.
Nakayama et al. (2001) showed that FUT9 directs CD15 synthesis in lymphoid cells and mature granulocytes, whereas FUT4 directs CD15 synthesis in promyelocytes and monocytes. FUT9 exhibited stronger activity for CD15 synthesis than FUT4.
Using human/mouse hybrid cell lines, Couillin et al. (1991) mapped a human alpha-3-fucosyltransferase, FUT4, to chromosome 11q. Using panels of somatic cell and radiation hybrids which retained different rearrangements of chromosome 11, Reguigne et al. (1994) assigned the FUT4 gene to chromosome 11q21, between D11S388 and D11S919. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization and a cosmid containing FUT4 sequence, McCurley et al. (1995) confirmed the assignment of the FUT4 gene to chromosome 11q21.
Gersten et al. (1995) demonstrated that the mouse Fut4 gene maps to chromosome 9 in a region showing syntenic homology with human 11q.
Cailleau-Thomas, A., Coullin, P., Candelier, J.-J., Balanzino, L., Mennesson, B., Oriol, R., Mollicone, R. FUT4 and FUT9 genes are expressed early in human embryogenesis. Glycobiology 10: 789-802, 2000. [PubMed: 10929005] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1093/glycob/10.8.789]
Couillin, P., Mollicone, R., Grisard, M. C., Gibaud, A., Ravise, N., Feingold, J., Oriol, R. Chromosome 11q localization of one of the three expected genes for the human alpha-3-fucosyltransferases, by somatic hybridization. Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 56: 108-111, 1991. [PubMed: 1672847] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1159/000133061]
Gersten, K. M., Natsuka, S., Trinchera, M., Petryniak, B., Kelly, R. J., Hiraiwa, N., Jenkins, N. A., Gilbert, D. J., Copeland, N. G., Lowe, J. B. Molecular cloning, expression, chromosomal assignment, and tissue-specific expression of a murine alpha-(1,3)-fucosyltransferase locus corresponding to the human ELAM-1 ligand fucosyl transferase. J. Biol. Chem. 270: 25047-25056, 1995. [PubMed: 7559635] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.270.42.25047]
Geurts van Kessel, A., Tetteroo, P., van Agthoven, T., Paulussen, R., van Dongen, J., Hagemeijer, A., von dem Borne, A. Localization of human myeloid-associated surface antigen detected by a panel of 20 monoclonal antibodies to the q12-qter region of chromosome 11. J. Immun. 133: 1265-1269, 1984. [PubMed: 6205076]
McCurley, R. S., Recinos, A., III, Olsen, A. S., Gingrich, J. C., Szczepaniak, D., Cameron, H. S., Krauss, R., Weston, B. W. Physical maps of human alpha(1,3)fucosyltransferase genes FUT3-FUT6 on chromosomes 19p13.3 and 11q21. Genomics 26: 142-146, 1995. [PubMed: 7782074] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1016/0888-7543(95)80094-3]
Nakayama, F., Nishihara, S., Iwasaki, H., Kudo, T., Okubo, R., Kaneko, M., Nakamura, M., Karube, M., Sasaki, K., Narimatsu, H. CD15 expression in mature granulocytes is determined by alpha-1,3-fucosyltransferase IX, but in promyelocytes and monocytes by alpha-1,3-fucosyltransferase IV. J. Biol. Chem. 276: 16100-16106, 2001. [PubMed: 11278338] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M007272200]
Reguigne, I., James, M. R., Richard, C. W., III, Mollicone, R., Seawright, A., Lowe, J. B., Oriol, R., Couillin, P. The gene encoding myeloid alpha-3-fucosyltransferase (FUT4) is located between D11S388 and D11S919 on 11q21. Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 66: 104-106, 1994. [PubMed: 8287679] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1159/000133677]
Tetteroo, P. A. T., de Heij, H. T., Van den Eijnden, D. H., Visser, F. J., Schoenmaker, E., Geurts van Kessel, A. H. M. A GDP-fucose:(Gal-beta-1-to-4)GlcNAc alpha-1-to-3-fucosyltransferase activity is correlated with the presence of human chromosome 11 and the expression of the Le(x), Le(y), and sialyl-Le(x) antigens in human-mouse cell hybrids. J. Biol. Chem. 262: 15984-15989, 1987. [PubMed: 3680240]