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.
The Burnham Institute, La Jolla Cancer Research Center, 10901 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. hudson@burnham.org
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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