The early metazoan Trichoplax adhaerens possesses a functional O-GlcNAc system
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Publication date
2015-05-08
Authors
Selvan, Nithya
Mariappa, Daniel
Van den Toorn, Henk
Heck, Albert J R
Ferenbach, Andrew T.
Van Aalten, Daan M F
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Abstract
Protein O-GlcNAcylation is a reversible post-translational signaling modification of nucleocytoplasmic proteins that is essential for embryonic development in bilateria. In a search for a reductionist model to study O-GlcNAc signaling, we discovered the presence of functional O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), O-GlcNAcase (OGA), and nucleocytoplasmic protein O-GlcNAcylation in the most basal extant animal, the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens. We show via enzymatic characterization of Trichoplax OGT/OGA and genetic rescue experiments in Drosophila melanogaster that these proteins possess activities/functions similar to their bilaterian counterparts. The acquisition of O-GlcNAc signaling by metazoa may have facilitated the rapid and complex signaling mechanisms required for the evolution of multicellular organisms.
Keywords
Animal Model, Drosophila Genetics, Evolution, O-GlcNAcylation, Post-translational Modification (PTM), Trichoplax adhaerens, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology
Citation
Selvan, N, Mariappa, D, Van Den Toorn, H W P, Heck, A J R, Ferenbach, A T & Van Aalten, D M F 2015, 'The early metazoan Trichoplax adhaerens possesses a functional O-GlcNAc system', Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 290, no. 19, pp. 11969-11982. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M114.628750