The unicellular eukaryotic amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum, represents a superb model for examining the molecular mechanism of chemotaxis. Under vegetative conditions, the amoebae are chemotactically responsive to pterins, such as folic acid. Under starved conditions, they lose their sensitivity to pterins and become chemotactically responsive to cAMP. As an NIH model system, Dictyostelium offers a variety of advantages in studying chemotaxis, including ease of growth, genetic tractability, and the conservation of mammalian signaling pathways. In this chapter, we describe the use of the under-agarose chemotaxis assay to understand the signaling pathways controlling directional sensing and motility in Dictyostelium discoideum. Given the similarities between Dictyostelium and mammalian cells, this allows us to dissect conserved pathways involved in eukaryotic chemotaxis.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1661-1_16 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Poly ADP-Ribosylation in a Plant Pathogenic Oomycete : A Key Controller of Growth and Host Plant Colonisation.
J Fungi (Basel)
January 2025
Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia.
ADP-ribosylation is a reversible modification of proteins and nucleic acids, which controls major cellular processes, including DNA damage repair, cell proliferation and differentiation, metabolism, stress, and immunity in plants and animals. The involvement of ADP-ribosylation in the life cycle of and some filamentous fungi has also been demonstrated. However, the role of this process in pathogenic oomycetes has never been addressed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConvergent pairs of highly transcribed genes restrict chromatin looping in Dictyostelium discoideum.
Nucleic Acids Res
January 2025
Laboratory of Structural and Functional Organization of Chromosomes, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 34/5 Vavilov St., 119334 Moscow, Russia.
Dictyostelium discoideum is a unicellular slime mold, developing into a multicellular fruiting body upon starvation. Development is accompanied by large-scale shifts in gene expression program, but underlying features of chromatin spatial organization remain unknown. Here, we report that the Dictyostelium 3D genome is organized into positionally conserved, largely consecutive, non-hierarchical and weakly insulated loops at the onset of multicellular development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRapid Icm/Dot T4SS Inactivation Prevents Resuscitation of Heat-Induced VBNC Legionella pneumophila by Amoebae.
Environ Microbiol
January 2025
Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, employs the Icm/Dot Type IV secretion system (T4SS) to replicate in amoebae and macrophages. The opportunistic pathogen responds to stress by forming 'viable but non-culturable' (VBNC) cells, which cannot be detected by standard cultivation-based techniques. In this study, we document that L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe IQGAP-related RasGAP IqgC regulates cell-substratum adhesion in Dictyostelium discoideum.
Cell Mol Biol Lett
January 2025
Department of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
Proper adhesion of cells to their environment is essential for the normal functioning of single cells and multicellular organisms. To attach to the extracellular matrix (ECM), mammalian cells form integrin adhesion complexes consisting of many proteins that together link the ECM and the actin cytoskeleton. Similar to mammalian cells, the amoeboid cells of the protist Dictyostelium discoideum also use multiprotein adhesion complexes to control their attachment to the underlying surface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMesoscale heterogeneity is a critical determinant for spiral pattern formation in developing social amoeba.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives, Osaka University, Yamadaoka 2-1, Suita, 565-0871, Osaka, Japan.
Heterogeneity is a critical determinant for multicellular pattern formation. Although the importance of microscale and macroscale heterogeneity at the single-cell and whole-system levels, respectively, has been well accepted, the presence and functions of mesoscale heterogeneity, such as cell clusters with distinct properties, have been poorly recognized. We investigated the biological importance of mesoscale heterogeneity in signal-relaying abilities (excitability) in the self-organization of spiral waves of intercellular communications by studying the self-organized pattern formation in a population of Dictyostelium discoideum cells, a classical signal-relaying system model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!