Kolb AL, Hsu DW, Wallis ABA, Ura S, Rakhimova A, Pears CJ, Lakin ND. Dictyostelium as a Model to Assess Site-Specific ADP-Ribosylation Events.
Methods Mol Biol 2019;
1813:125-148. [PMID:
30097865 DOI:
10.1007/978-1-4939-8588-3_9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
The amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is a single-cell organism that can undergo a simple developmental program, making it an excellent model to study the molecular mechanisms of cell motility, signal transduction, and cell-type differentiation. A variety of human genes that are absent or show limited conservation in other invertebrate models have been identified in this organism. This includes ADP-ribosyltransferases, also known as poly-ADP-ribose polymerases (PARPs), a family of proteins that catalyze the addition of single or poly-ADP-ribose moieties onto target proteins. The genetic tractability of Dictyostelium and its relatively simple genome structure makes it possible to disrupt PARP gene combinations, in addition to specific ADP-ribosylation sites at endogenous loci. Together, this makes Dictyostelium an attractive model to assess how ADP-ribosylation regulates a variety of cellular processes including DNA repair, transcription, and cell-type specification. Here we describe a range of techniques to study ADP-ribosylation in Dictyostelium, including analysis of ADP-ribosylation events in vitro and in vivo, in addition to approaches to assess the functional roles of this modification in vivo.
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