What is it about?
All cells in our bodies are limited by a membrane, which is decorated with multiple proteins. These proteins are modified with complex sugars, branched oligomers of multiple types of sugars. These complex sugars, called glycans, are synthesized inside the cell, in an organelle called the Golgi apparatus. Different human cells present different types of glycans and adapt their glycans to physiological changes. How this is achieved is poorly understood. Here we combine a systematic approach of gene depletion and cell surface glycan measurement. This approach reveals that signaling molecules inside the cells exert a complex effect on the Golgi and regulate various glycans, suggesting the existence of a complex regulatory network linking cell signaling and glycan production in the Golgi apparatus.
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Why is it important?
Glycans are an important family of molecules; with high diversity and multiple functional roles. How their expression is controlled is poorly understood.
Perspectives
The idea of a regulation occurring directly at the level of the Golgi apparatus is fascinating, as it raises the question of how signaling impacting the Golgi might affect glycosylation reactions. Enzymes are in the lumen of the Golgi, therefore shielded from kinases and phosphatases. It is possible that the mechanisms controlling glycosylation are based on membrane traffic and segregation of enzymes and substrates...
Dr Frederic A Bard
IMCB
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This page is a summary of: RNAi screening reveals a large signaling network controlling the Golgi apparatus in human cells, Molecular Systems Biology, December 2012, EMBO,
DOI: 10.1038/msb.2012.59.
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