N-glycan antennae elongation in the medial/trans-Golgi

In the latter compartments of the distal Golgi the N-Glycan is further modified, leading to the wide range of N-Glycans observed in multicellular organisms. The first step of N-Glycan elongation in the Golgi is the addition of a GlcNAc residue on the alpha 1,3 branch by the enzyme MGAT1 (GlcNAc-TI), which commits the elongation pathway to Complex or Hybrid N-Glycans from Oligomannose N-Glycans. At this point, the pathway bifurcates again to generate Complex or Hybrid N-Glycans. The addition of a GlcNAc in the middle of the two arms of the N-Glycan, catalyzed by MGAT3 (GNT-III), inhibits the removal of the mannoses on the alpha1,3 branches by MAN2 and the addition of a GlcNAc by MGAT2 (GlcNAc-TII), and commits the pathway toward the synthesis of hybrid N-Glycans. Alternatively, the removal of these mannoses and the action of MGAT2 leads to the synthesis of complex N-Glycans.

Summary from Reactome (R-HSA-975576), read 2026-09-23.