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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/2002/12/910-a $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 159, Number 6, 910-a-910

Making Dictyostelium stick

Cells lacking SadA move faster but with less path persistence.

Using a clever genetic screen, Fey et al., reporting on page 1109, have identified the first cell–substrate adhesion molecule in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. The protein shares some structural features with adhesion molecules in higher eukaryotes, suggesting that the relatively simple amoeba will be a useful model system for understanding the contributions of substrate adhesion to cell movement.

The authors generated a panel of Dictyostelium insertional mutants, and then screened the transformants by repeatedly transferring them to new culture dishes. Only mutants that lacked the ability to attach to the dish were transferred. This screen identified nine independent substrate adhesion deficient (sad) mutants, one of which has now been characterized. sadA defines a novel gene encoding a molecule critical for cell–substrate adhesion in vegetative cells. GFP-tagged SadA protein localizes to the plasma membrane. In addition to multiple membrane-spanning regions, the protein's predicted structure includes three EGF-like domains, suggesting that these domains may be an evolutionarily conserved feature of adhesion molecules.

Mammalian cell–substrate adhesion is more complex than one molecule, but the identification of nine genes essential for adhesion in Dictyostelium is an encouraging start. The authors are now characterizing the other Sad genes in an effort to determine how their gene products interact.

Alan W. Dove

alanwdove{at}earthlink.net

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Related Article

SadA, a novel adhesion receptor in Dictyostelium

Petra Fey, Stephen Stephens, Margaret A. Titus, and Rex L. Chisholm
J. Cell Biol. 2002 159: 1109-1119. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Full Text (PDF, 294K) PPT slides of all figures Alert me when this article is cited Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new content in the JCB Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dove, A. W. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Dove, A. W. Related Collections Related Article Social Bookmarking                            What's this?