title: Attenuation of N-glycosylation causes polarity and adhesion defects in theC. elegansembryo.
abstract: TheCaenorhabditiselegansearly embryo is highly polarized, requiring sequestration of cytoplasmic polarity factors at the plasma membrane. This compartmentalization aids asymmetric distribution of lipids and proteins, which is partially responsible for the fates of the daughter cells. Since most plasma membrane proteins are glycosylated, we determined the effect of attenuation of N-glycosylation on cell polarity. While polarity establishment was not perturbed, the size difference between the two cells formed in first cell division (AB and P1) was more variable in embryos with reduced N-glycosylation than in the mock-treated embryos. In addition, among other deficiencies, we observed spindle orientation defects in two-cell embryos. Moreover, cell-cell adhesion was specifically lost at the two-cell stage when N-glycosylation was reduced. This loss-of-adhesion phenotype was rescued by interfering with polarity establishment, indicating that polarity establishment enforces plasma membrane compartmentalization. Consistent with this idea, the decreased plasma membrane levels of the adhesion proteins E-cadherin and MAGI-1 inribo-1(RNAi)embryos were restored in the absence of functional PAR-2. Our data suggest a general role for N-glycosylation in plasma membrane compartmentalization and cell polarity.
authors.affiliation: Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, Basel CH-4056, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, Basel CH-4056, Switzerland anne.spang@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2387-6203
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D002455:Cell Division; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D016764:Cell Polarity; D048429:Cell Size; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006031:Glycosylation; D010641:Phenotype; D034622:RNA Interference; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism; D015053:Zygote / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
keywords: C. elegans; Cell adhesion; Cell polarity; E-cadherin; Embryo development; Membrane compartmentalization; N-glycosylation; OST complex; PAR protein