Developmental Glycobiology of Dictyostelium Discoideum

Le résumé fourni par la source

The major goal of glycobiology is to understand the physiological functions of carbohydrate chains. Studies in tissue culture cells have provided an understanding of the basic biochemistry of protein glycosylation and several of its important physiological functions, such as the targeting of lysosomal enzymes. 1 This approach often involves the isolation and characterization of mutant cell lines which have defects in glycan assembly. 2 If specific types of glycoconjugates are critical cellular functions, the absence of entire classes of sugar chains might be expected to have dire consequences for cell viability; however, such mutations are not lethal to cell lines. This observation is significant because it underscores what is perhaps a fundamental principle: many of the functions of carbohydrate chains will be found only in multicellular organisms where tissue specialization provides the opportunity for exploting subtle changes in carbohydrate structures. The theme of this chapter is to examine the importance of sugar chains in development, and, of all the well-studied developmental model systems, Dictyostelium discoideum offers some unique advantages over others. 3–5 This haploid eukaryotic amoeba normally lives a solitary life; but under appropriate conditions, 10 11 cells can be coaxed into forming a million individual aggregates. Each undergoes a complex, synchronous morphogenesis, and within 24 h several distinctly different cell types emerge. Spatial and temporal regulation of many genes has been well documented in Dictyostelium , and the effects of specific mutations can be examined for their consequences on vegetative growth or throughout the entire developmental journey. This review will examine the results of some approaches used to study the structure, bio-synthesis, localization, and function of glycans produced during both the vegetative and developmental stages of Dictyostelium.

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