Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
dictyNews Volume 41 Number 14
dictyNews
Electronic Edition
Volume 41, number 14
July 3, 2015
Please submit abstracts of your papers as soon as they have been
accepted for publication by using the form at
http://dictybase.org/db/cgi-bin/dictyBase/abstract_submit.
Back issues of dictyNews, the Dicty Reference database and other
useful information is available at dictyBase - http://dictybase.org.
Follow dictyBase on twitter:
http://twitter.com/dictybase
=========
Abstracts
=========
Proteomic profiling of the extracellular matrix (slime sheath) of
Dictyostelium discoideum
Robert J. Huber 1 and Danton H. O’Day 2,3
1 Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital,
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2 Department of Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3 Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga,
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
PROTEOMICS, in press
Dictyostelium discoideum has historically served as a model system
for cell and developmental biology, but recently it has gained
increasing attention as a model for the study of human diseases. The
extracellular matrix (ECM) of this eukaryotic microbe serves multiple
essential functions during development. It not only provides
structural integrity to the moving multicellular pseudoplasmodium,
or slug, it also provides components that regulate cell motility and
differentiation. An LC/MS/MS analysis of slug ECM revealed the
presence of a large number of proteins in two wild-type strains,
NC4 and WS380B. GO annotation identified a large number of proteins
involved in some form of binding (e.g., protein, polysaccharide,
cellulose, carbohydrate, ATP, cAMP, ion, lipid, vitamin), as well
as proteins that modulate metabolic processes, cell movement, and
multicellular development. In addition, this proteomic analysis
identified numerous expected (e.g., EcmA, EcmD, discoidin I,
discoidin II), as well as unexpected (e.g., ribosomal and nuclear
proteins) components. These topics are discussed in terms of the
structure and function of the ECM during the development of this
model amoebozoan and their relevance to ongoing biomedical research.
Submitted by Robert Huber [rhuber@mgh.harvard.edu]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chemotaxis of a model organism: progress with Dictyostelium
John M.E. Nichols1,2, Douwe Veltman1 and Robert R. Kay1
1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH,
United Kingdom
2. MRC Laboratory of Molecular cell Biology, University
College London, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT
Current Opinion in Cell Biology, in press
Model organisms have been key to understanding many core biological
processes. Dictyostelium amoebae have the attributes required to
perform this role for chemotaxis, and by providing an evolutionary
distant reference point to mammalian cells, they allow the central
features of chemotaxis to be discerned. Here we highlight progress
with Dictyostelium in understanding: pseudopod and bleb driven
movement; the role of the actin cytoskeleton; chemotactic signal
processing, including how cells adapt to background stimulation,
and the controversial role of PIP3. Macropinocytosis and the axenic
mutations are raised as potential confounding factors, while the
identification of new players through proteomics holds great promise.
Submitted by Robert Kay[rrk@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk]
==============================================================
[End dictyNews, volume 41, number 14]
