The Prion Protein Controls Polysialylation of Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 during Cellular Morphogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Despite its multi-faceted role in neurodegenerative diseases, the physiological function of the prion protein (PrP) has remained elusive. On the basis of its evolutionary relationship to ZIP metal ion transporters, we considered that PrP may contribute to the morphogenetic reprogramming of cells underlying epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMT). Consistent with this hypothesis, PrP transcription increased more than tenfold during EMT, and stable PrP-deficient cells failed to complete EMT in a mammalian cell model. A global comparative proteomics analysis identified the neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM1) as a candidate mediator of this impairment, which led to the observation that PrP-deficient cells fail to undergo NCAM1 polysialylation during EMT. Surprisingly, this defect was c

SUBMITTER: Mehrabian M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4546001 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature