UDP-N-acetylglucosamine–dolichyl-phosphate N-acetylglucosaminephosphotransferase that operates in the biosynthetic pathway of dolichol-linked oligosaccharides, the glycan precursors employed in protein asparagine (N)-glycosylation. The assembly of dolichol-linked oligosaccharides begins on the cytosolic side of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and finishes in its lumen. The sequential addition of sugars to dolichol pyrophosphate produces dolichol-linked oligosaccharides containing fourteen sugars, including two GlcNAcs, nine mannoses and three glucoses. Once assembled, the oligosaccharide is transferred from the lipid to nascent proteins by oligosaccharyltransferases. Catalyzes the initial step of dolichol-linked oligosaccharide biosynthesis, transfering GlcNAc-1-P from cytosolic UDP-GlcNAc onto the carrier lipid dolichyl phosphate (P-dolichol), yielding GlcNAc-P-P-dolichol embedded in the cytoplasmic leaflet of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.
