Sweet solution: sugars to the rescue.
Sugar pills are usually placebos, but Smith et al. (2002, this issue) use one to rescue designer mice unable to make GDP-Fucose. Dietary fucose enters a salvage pathway and spares the mice. Sound simple? Not so. Unknown genetic factors determine life or death.
Freeze
Hudson H
HH
The Burnham Institute, La Jolla Cancer Research Center, 10901 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. hudson@burnham.org
D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D003092:Colitis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005643:Fucose / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005944:Glucosamine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006154:Guanosine Diphosphate Fucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D018370:Leukocyte-Adhesion Deficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D009154:Mutation; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; C426650:SLC35C1 protein, human; D006154:Guanosine Diphosphate Fucose; D005643:Fucose; C098108:N-acetylglucopyranosylamine; D005944:Glucosamine