title: Chondroitin 4-O-Sulfotransferase Is Indispensable for Sulfation of Chondroitin and Plays an Important Role in Maintaining Normal Life Span and Oxidative Stress Responses in Nematodes.
abstract: Chondroitin sulfate (CS)/chondroitin (Chn) chains are indispensable for embryonic cell division and cytokinesis in the early developmental stages in Caenorhabditis elegans and mice, whereas heparan sulfate (HS) is essential for axon guidance during nervous system development. These data indicate that the fundamental functions of CS and HS are conserved from worms to mammals and that the function of CS/Chn differs from that of HS. Although previous studies have shown that C. elegans produces HS and non-sulfated Chn, whether the organism produces CS remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that C. elegans produces a small amount of 4-O-sulfated Chn and report the identification of C41C4.1, an orthologue of the human chondroitin 4-O-sulfotransferase gene. Loss of C41C4.1 in C. elegans resulted in a decline in 4-O-sulfation of CS and an increase in the number of sulfated units in HS. C41C4.1 deletion mutants exhibited reduced survival rates after synchronization with sodium hypochlorite. Collectively, these results show for the first time that CS glycans are present in C. elegans and that the Chn 4-O-sulfotransferase responsible for the sulfation plays an important role in protecting nematodes from oxidative stress.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biochemistry, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-8558, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Izumikawa
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsufumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dejima
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biochemistry, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-8558, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watamoto
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuko H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Nanako
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kanaki
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rikitake
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Mai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tou
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yanagita
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Ai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.affiliation: the Department of Physiology, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan, and.
authors.forename: Shohei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitani
authors.affiliation: the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan knomuscb@kyushu-u.org.
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biochemistry, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-8558, Japan, kitagawa@kobepharma-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002455:Cell Division; D002807:Chondroitin / Q000378:metabolism*; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006497:Heparan Sulfate / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013431:Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism; D015238:Sulfotransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000097811:Carbohydrate Sulfotransferases
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002807:Chondroitin; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates; D006497:Heparan Sulfate; D013431:Sulfates; D015238:Sulfotransferases; C000622747:chst-1 protein, C elegans; D000097811:Carbohydrate Sulfotransferases
keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans); chondroitin sulfate; oxidative stress; proteoglycan; sulfotransferase