N-glycosylation mediated folding and quality control in serine proteases of the hepsin family

N-linked glycans are specifically attached to asparagine residues in a N-X-S/T motif of secretory pathway glycoproteins. N-glycosylation of newly synthesized glycoproteins directs their folding via the lectin chaperones calnexin and calreticulin that are associated with protein-folding enzymes and glycosidases of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Misfolded glycoproteins are retained in the ER by the same lectin chaperones. The work by Sun et al. (FEBS J 2023, 10.1111/febs.16757) in this issue focusses on hepsin, a serine protease on the surface of liver and other organs. The authors deduce that spatial positioning of N-glycans on one side of a conserved domain of hepsin, known as the scavenger receptor-rich cysteine domain, regulates calnexin selection for hepsin maturation and transport through the secretory pathway. If N-glycosylation is elsewhere on hepsin, then it is misfolded and has a prolonged accumulation with calnexin and BiP. This association coincides with the engagement of stress response pathways that sense glycoprotein misfolding. The topological considerations of N-glycosylation dissected by Sun et al. may help unravel how key sites of N-glycosylation sites required for protein folding and transport have evolved to select the lectin chaperone calnexin pathway for folding and quality control.