dictyNews
Electronic Edition
Volume 41, number 14
July 3, 2015

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Abstracts
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Proteomic profiling of the extracellular matrix (slime sheath) of 
Dictyostelium discoideum

Robert J. Huber 1 and Danton H. O’Day 2,3

1 Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, 
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2 Department of Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3 Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, 
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada


PROTEOMICS, in press

Dictyostelium discoideum has historically served as a model system 
for cell and developmental biology, but recently it has gained 
increasing attention as a model for the study of human diseases. The 
extracellular matrix (ECM) of this eukaryotic microbe serves multiple 
essential functions during development. It not only provides 
structural integrity to the moving multicellular pseudoplasmodium, 
or slug, it also provides components that regulate cell motility and 
differentiation. An LC/MS/MS analysis of slug ECM revealed the 
presence of a large number of proteins in two wild-type strains, 
NC4 and WS380B. GO annotation identified a large number of proteins 
involved in some form of binding (e.g., protein, polysaccharide, 
cellulose, carbohydrate, ATP, cAMP, ion, lipid, vitamin), as well 
as proteins that modulate metabolic processes, cell movement, and 
multicellular development. In addition, this proteomic analysis 
identified numerous expected (e.g., EcmA, EcmD, discoidin I, 
discoidin II), as well as unexpected (e.g., ribosomal and nuclear 
proteins) components. These topics are discussed in terms of the 
structure and function of the ECM during the development of this 
model amoebozoan and their relevance to ongoing biomedical research.


Submitted by Robert Huber [[log in to unmask]] 
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Chemotaxis of a model organism: progress with Dictyostelium

John M.E. Nichols1,2, Douwe Veltman1 and Robert R. Kay1

1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH,
United Kingdom
2. MRC Laboratory of Molecular cell Biology, University 
College London, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT


Current Opinion in Cell Biology, in press

Model organisms have been key to understanding many core biological 
processes.  Dictyostelium amoebae have the attributes required to 
perform this role for chemotaxis, and by providing an evolutionary 
distant reference point to mammalian cells, they allow the central 
features of chemotaxis to be discerned.  Here we highlight progress 
with Dictyostelium in understanding: pseudopod and bleb driven 
movement; the role of the actin cytoskeleton; chemotactic signal 
processing, including how cells adapt to background stimulation, 
and the controversial role of PIP3.  Macropinocytosis and the axenic 
mutations are raised as potential confounding factors, while the 
identification of new players through proteomics holds great promise.


Submitted by Robert Kay[[log in to unmask]] 
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[End dictyNews, volume 41, number 14]