Biochemistry & Analytical Biochemistry

Comparative glycomics in Caenorhabditis elegans

Global Congress on Biochemistry, Glycomics & Amino Acids

December 08-09, 2016 San Antonio, USA

John F Cipollo

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research-FDA, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Biochem Anal Biochem

Abstract:

Caenorhabditis elegans is a simple model organism composed of 959 developmentally well-defined somatic cells. This nematode is a good model for tissue development, microbial infection and innate immunity. It is infected by over 40 microbial pathogens most of which are also human pathogens. We have studied a series of glycosylation deficient C. elegans strains that are resistant to a series of bacterial infections. The bus-4 strains are resistant to bacterial infection caused by Microbacterium nematophilum, Yersinia pestis, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus. Here, we describe our glycomics study of the bus-4 reference strain in comparison to its parent strain, N2 Bristol. Using mass spectrometry based strategies as well as expression array analyses, we investigated the N- and O-glycomes of the bus-4 strain and the impact that altered glycosylation processes have on expression and ultimately bacterial infection. We have found that the N-glycome is essentially unperturbed. However, the C. elegans mucin oligosaccharides are significantly altered especially in the abundance of charged species and overall glycomer distributions. Also, two key mucins are greatly upregulated. Expression analysis reveals an altered early innate immune factor pattern in the uninfected state resembling that of wild-type nematodes in the state of infection by gram positive bacteria. Changes in elements of secretory system control were found. Overall, our study reveals likely mechanisms that may be involved in resistance to S. aureus infection.

Biography :

Email: John.Cipollo@fda.hhs.gov