Abstract
Heparan sulfate Proteoglycans (HSPG) are ubiquitous molecules with indispensable functions in various biological processes. Glypicans are a family of HSPG’s, characterized by a Gpi-anchor which directs them to the cell surface and/or extracellular matrix where they regulate growth factor signaling during development and disease. We report the identification and expression pattern of glypican genes from zebrafish. The zebrafish genome contains 10 glypican homologs, as opposed to six in mammals, which are highly conserved and are phylogenetically related to the mammalian genes. Some of the fish glypicans like Gpc1a, Gpc3, Gpc4, Gpc6a and Gpc6b show conserved synteny with their mammalian cognate genes. Many glypicans are expressed during the gastrulation stage, but their expression becomes more tissue specific and defined during somitogenesis stages, particularly in the developing central nervous system. Existence of multiple glypican orthologs in fish with diverse expression pattern suggests highly specialized and/or redundant function of these genes during embryonic development.
Highlights
The members of the glypican family are extracellular matrix components which play essential roles in various biological processes
Our findings indicate that glypicans are overall conserved between mammals and zebrafish, and may serve both generalized and highly tissue-specific functions in developing tissues
There are 6 glypican genes in the human genome (GPC1-6). These sequences were blasted against Ensembl Zv9, GenBank and DFCI zebrafish EST databases to obtain the corresponding zebrafish glypicans
Summary
The members of the glypican family are extracellular matrix components which play essential roles in various biological processes They are Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans, composed of a cysteine-rich protein core to which heparan sulfate (HS) sugar chains are covalently attached at the Cterminal end. Dally was the first mutant to be isolated in Drosophila displaying developmental defects in the eye, brain and wing [1] This was attributed to a reduction in DPP signaling. Various genetic and biochemical studies have associated glypicans to different developmental processes, growth and disease progression They can function as low affinity co-receptors for growth factors or assist in their transport across cells [8]. Gpc knockdown was seen in patients with neural tube defects [13] and this gene has been implicated in nephrotic syndrome [14]
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