Metabolic labeling of Caenorhabditis elegans primary embryonic cells with azido-sugars as a tool for glycoprotein discovery.

ABSTRACT: Glycobiology research with Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has benefitted from the numerous genetic and cell biology tools available in this system. However, the lack of a cell line and the relative inaccessibility of C. elegans somatic cells in vivo have limited the biochemical approaches available in this model. Here we report that C. elegans primary embryonic cells in culture incorporate azido-sugar analogs of N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), and that the labeled glycoproteins can be analyzed by mass spectrometry. By using this metabolic labeling approach, we have identified a set of novel C. elegans glycoprotein candidates, which include several mitochondrially-annotated proteins. This observation was unexpected given that mitochondrial glycoproteins

SUBMITTER: Burnham-Marusich AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3495777 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature