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Studies of the cAMP mediated aggregation in Dictyostelium discoideum: receptor mediated activation of the adenylate cyclase

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6068103

Dictyostelium discoideum, a eukaryotic amoeba of the cellular slime mold family, provides an interesting paradigm in developmental biology. During development, hundreds of thousands of cells aggregate to form a multicellular aggregate. Aggregation is mediated by chemotaxis and chemical signaling. Waves of adenosine 3'-5' cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) propagate through the monolayer and provide transient gradients for chemotaxis. The author has used a reversible inhibitor of the cAMP signaling response to demonstrate that adaptation to cAMP is independent of the activation of the adenylate cyclase and therefore is not caused by the rise in intracellular cAMP. Next, it is shown that adenosine inhibits the cAMP signaling response. Inhibition is rapid, reversible, and depends on the cAMP stimulus concentration. Then the specificity of the cAMP receptors which mediates signaling is determined and compared with the receptors which mediate chemotaxis, the cGMP response, and cAMP binding antagonism. The cAMP surface receptor has been identified by photoaffinity labeling intact cells with (/sup 32/P)-8-N/sub 3/-cAMP using an ammonium sulfate binding stabilization technique. The photoactivated ligand specifically labels a polypeptide, localized to the membrane fraction, which migrates as a closely spaced doublet on SDS Page.

Research Organization:
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (USA)
OSTI ID:
6068103
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English