Biomaterial Database

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans are essential for FGF receptor signaling during Drosophila embryonic development. 1999

X Lin, and E M Buff, and N Perrimon, and A M Michelson

Department of Genetics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

The Drosophila sugarless and sulfateless genes encode enzymes required for the biosynthesis of heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans. Biochemical studies have shown that heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans are involved in signaling by fibroblast growth factor receptors, but evidence for such a requirement in an intact organism has not been available. We now demonstrate that sugarless and sulfateless mutant embryos have phenotypes similar to those lacking the functions of two Drosophila fibroblast growth factor receptors, Heartless and Breathless. Moreover, both Heartless- and Breathless-dependent MAPK activation is significantly reduced in embryos which fail to synthesize heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans. Consistent with an involvement of Sulfateless and Sugarless in fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling, a constitutively activated form of Heartless partially rescues sugarless and sulfateless mutants, and dosage-sensitive interactions occur between heartless and the heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan biosynthetic enzyme genes. We also find that overexpression of Branchless, the Breathless ligand, can partially overcome the requirement of Sugarless and Sulfateless for Breathless activity. These results provide the first genetic evidence that heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans are essential for fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling in a well defined developmental context, and support a model in which heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans facilitate fibroblast growth factor ligand and/or ligand-receptor oligomerization.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008648	Mesoderm	The middle germ layer of an embryo derived from three paired mesenchymal aggregates along the neural tube.	Mesenchyme,Dorsal Mesoderm,Intermediate Mesoderm,Lateral Plate Mesoderm,Mesenchyma,Paraxial Mesoderm,Dorsal Mesoderms,Intermediate Mesoderms,Lateral Plate Mesoderms,Mesenchymas,Mesoderm, Dorsal,Mesoderm, Intermediate,Mesoderm, Lateral Plate,Mesoderm, Paraxial,Mesoderms, Dorsal,Mesoderms, Intermediate,Mesoderms, Lateral Plate,Mesoderms, Paraxial,Paraxial Mesoderms,Plate Mesoderm, Lateral,Plate Mesoderms, Lateral
D009154	Mutation	Any detectable and heritable change in the genetic material that causes a change in the GENOTYPE and which is transmitted to daughter cells and to succeeding generations.	Mutations
D010641	Phenotype	The outward appearance of the individual. It is the product of interactions between genes, and between the GENOTYPE and the environment.	Phenotypes
D011505	Protein-Tyrosine Kinases	Protein kinases that catalyze the PHOSPHORYLATION of TYROSINE residues in proteins with ATP or other nucleotides as phosphate donors.	Tyrosine Protein Kinase,Tyrosine-Specific Protein Kinase,Protein-Tyrosine Kinase,Tyrosine Kinase,Tyrosine Protein Kinases,Tyrosine-Specific Protein Kinases,Tyrosylprotein Kinase,Kinase, Protein-Tyrosine,Kinase, Tyrosine,Kinase, Tyrosine Protein,Kinase, Tyrosine-Specific Protein,Kinase, Tyrosylprotein,Kinases, Protein-Tyrosine,Kinases, Tyrosine Protein,Kinases, Tyrosine-Specific Protein,Protein Kinase, Tyrosine-Specific,Protein Kinases, Tyrosine,Protein Kinases, Tyrosine-Specific,Protein Tyrosine Kinase,Protein Tyrosine Kinases,Tyrosine Specific Protein Kinase,Tyrosine Specific Protein Kinases
D004330	Drosophila	A genus of small, two-winged flies containing approximately 900 described species. These organisms are the most extensively studied of all genera from the standpoint of genetics and cytology.	Fruit Fly, Drosophila,Drosophila Fruit Flies,Drosophila Fruit Fly,Drosophilas,Flies, Drosophila Fruit,Fly, Drosophila Fruit,Fruit Flies, Drosophila
D005346	Fibroblast Growth Factors	A family of small polypeptide growth factors that share several common features including a strong affinity for HEPARIN, and a central barrel-shaped core region of 140 amino acids that is highly homologous between family members. Although originally studied as proteins that stimulate the growth of fibroblasts this distinction is no longer a requirement for membership in the fibroblast growth factor family.	DNA Synthesis Factor,Fibroblast Growth Factor,Fibroblast Growth Regulatory Factor,Growth Factor, Fibroblast,Growth Factors, Fibroblast
D000581	Amidohydrolases	Any member of the class of enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of amide bonds and result in the addition of water to the resulting molecules.	Amidases,Amidohydrolase
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D014132	Trachea	The cartilaginous and membranous tube descending from the larynx and branching into the right and left main bronchi.	Tracheas
D015238	Sulfotransferases	Enzymes which transfer sulfate groups to various acceptor molecules. They are involved in posttranslational sulfation of proteins and sulfate conjugation of exogenous chemicals and bile acids. EC 2.8.2.	Sulfotransferase