Yamamoto-Hino, M., Kanie, Y., Awano, W., Aoki-Kinoshita, K.F., Yano, H., Nishihara, S., Okano, H., Ueda, R., Kanie, O., Goto, S. (2010). Identification of genes required for neural-specific glycosylation using functional genomics.  PLoS Genet. 6(12): e1001254.

FBrf0212671

Research paper

Glycosylation plays crucial regulatory roles in various biological processes such as development, immunity, and neural functions. For example, α1,3-fucosylation, the addition of a fucose moiety abundant in Drosophila neural cells, is essential for neural development, function, and behavior. However, it remains largely unknown how neural-specific α1,3-fucosylation is regulated. In the present study, we searched for genes involved in the glycosylation of a neural-specific protein using a Drosophila RNAi library. We obtained 109 genes affecting glycosylation that clustered into nine functional groups. Among them, members of the RNA regulation group were enriched by a secondary screen that identified genes specifically regulating α1,3-fucosylation. Further analyses revealed that an RNA-binding protein, second mitotic wave missing (Swm), upregulates expression of the neural-specific glycosyltransferase FucTA and facilitates its mRNA export from the nucleus. This first large-scale genetic screen for glycosylation-related genes has revealed novel regulation of fucTA mRNA in neural cells.

PMC3009669 (PMC) (EuropePMC)