Use of a mutant OGA for detecting O-GlcNAc modified proteins

In the previous issue of Biochemical Journal Mariappa et al. [(2015) Biochem J. 470, 255–262] demonstrate a new method for visualizing O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modified proteins by making use of a catalytically dead version of the enzyme that normally removes this modification. They show their approach has broader specificity than current antibody-based techniques and higher specificity than lectin and chemical biology-based labelling approaches. This commentary discusses methods for O-GlcNAc detection and the significance of this work for characterizing this common, but currently poorly understood regulatory modification.