Functional analysis of glycosylation using Drosophila melanogaster

AbstractThe glycosylation of proteins and lipids has various essential roles in a diverse range of biological processes, including embryogenesis, organ development, neurogenesis, maintenance of homeostasis, immune response, and tumorigenesis.Drosophila melanogaster is one of the representative multicellular model organisms, which have many useful genetic manipulation tools; it is used in developmental biology as well as classical and molecular genetics. Glycobiology is not an exception and many studies usingDrosophila have been performed in this field to clarify novel functions of glycans. Recently, genome-wide screening and functional analyses were performed in whole body, wings, eyes, neuromuscular junctions, and immune organs. Furthermore, detailed studies withDrosophila mutants of glycosyltransferases, nucleotide sugar transporters, and glycosidases revealed novel functions ofN-linked glycans, glycosaminoglycans, glycolipids, andO-linked glycans including mucin typeO-glycan,O-Fuc,O-Man, andO-GlcNAc. As many of these functions are common betweenDrosophila and humans, these mutants represent good models for human disease. In this review, recent studies of glycan functions usingDrosophila are summarized.
Source: Glycoconjugate Journal - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research