Specific heparan sulfate modifications stabilize the synaptic organizer MADD-4/Punctin at Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junctions.

ABSTRACT: Heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans contribute to the structural organization of various neurochemical synapses. Depending on the system, their role involves either the core protein or the glycosaminoglycan chains. These linear sugar chains are extensively modified by HS modification enzymes, resulting in highly diverse molecules. Specific modifications of glycosaminoglycan chains may thus contribute to a sugar code involved in synapse specificity. Caenorhabditis elegans is particularly useful to address this question because of the low level of genomic redundancy of these enzymes, as opposed to mammals. Here, we systematically mutated the genes encoding HS modification enzymes in C. elegans and analyzed their impact on excitatory and inhibitory neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). Using single

SUBMITTER: Cizeron M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8864735 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature