Drosophila fasciclin I, a neural cell adhesion molecule, has a phosphatidylinositol lipid membrane anchor that is developmentally regulated.
Fasciclin I is a homophilic neural cell adhesion molecule which is regionally expressed on a subset of fasciculating axons in both the grasshopper and Drosophila embryo, suggesting a role in axonal recognition. It is also dynamically expressed on a variety of other embryonic tissues. Biochemical analysis of the fasciclin I glycoprotein from Drosophila embryonic membranes and Schneider 1 cells indicates that it is tightly associated with the lipid bilayer by a phosphatidylinositol lipid moiety. In Drosophila embryos a large fraction of fasciclin I protein has lost its membrane anchor. The ratio of this soluble form to the phosphatidylinositol-linked form changes during embryogenesis. We speculate that removal of the phosphatidylinositol lipid from the fasciclin I protein could be a mechanism to regulate its adhesive function.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
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Hortsch
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Goodman
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015816:Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000502:physiology; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols; D006110:Grasshoppers / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010716:Phosphatidylinositols / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015816:Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols; D010716:Phosphatidylinositols; D011134:Polysaccharides; C051641:fasciclin I