dictyNews

Electronic Edition

Volume 45, number 23

September 6, 2019



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Abstracts

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The endocytic pathways of Dictyostelium discoideum



James H. Vines and Jason S. King



Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK





Int J Dev Biol, Special Edition 

edited by Ricardo Escalante & Elena Cardenal, in press



The formation and processing of vesicles from the cell surface serves many 

important cellular functions ranging from nutrient acquisition to regulating 

the turnover of membrane components and signalling. In this article, we 

summarise the endocytic pathways of the social amoeba Dictyostelium from 

the clathrin-dependent and independent internalisation of surface components 

to the engulfment of bacteria or fluid by phagocytosis and macropinocytosis 

respectively. Due to similarities with the professional phagocytes of the 

mammalian immune system Dictyostelium has been extensively used to 

investigate the complex remodelling and trafficking events that occur as 

phagosomes and macropinosomes transit through the cell. Here we discuss 

what is known about this maturation process in order to kill any potential 

pathogens and obtain nutrients for growth. Finally, we aim to put these studies 

in evolutionary context and highlight some of the many questions that remain 

in our understanding of these complex and important pathways. 





submitted by:  Jason King [[log in to unmask]]

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Dictyostelium discoideum as a pharmacological model system to study the 

mechanisms of medicinal drugs and natural products



Judith Schaf¥, Joseph Damstra-Oddy¥ and Robin S.B. Williams



¥: these authors contributed equally



Centre for Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, Royal 

Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom





Int J Dev Biol, Special Edition

edited by Ricardo Escalante & Elena Cardenal, in press



Developing novel compounds for the treatment of diseases remains one of 

the highest priorities in biomedical research, where it is critical to identify their 

targets and how they work at a cellular level. Most studies in this area employ 

mammalian models, since rodents or non-human primates are seen as a good 

approximation for humans. However, using mammalian models can be 

problematic for a range of reasons, including high genetic redundancy and the 

essential role for many proteins in development. More importantly, it is very 

difficult to identify how compounds function at a cellular or molecular level in 

these models without a previously suggested mechanism or target. So how 

can we identify targets of medicinal compounds? In this review we outline the 

use of an innovative and tractable model system, Dictyostelium discoideum, to 

provide useful insight to the cellular and molecular functions of both therapeutic 

drugs and pharmacologically active natural products. We outline the advantages 

of using this model, and then provide a range of exemplar studies using 

Dictyostelium discoideum in pharmacological research to demonstrate 

breakthroughs in understanding the action and effects of compounds, and the 

subsequent translational of these advances to mammalian models leading to 

potential improvements in societal health.





submitted by: Robin Williams [[log in to unmask]]

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[End dictyNews, volume 45, number 23]