Heparan sulfate (HS) regulates several extracellular signalling pathways during development, such as the FGF and Wnt pathways. The binding of HS to these ligands and their receptors is regulated by its precise 6-O-sulfated structure, but what controls this `HS code' and thus the signalling functions of HS? On p. 3327, Ai and colleagues provide the first evidence that the extracellular HS 6-O-endosulfatases SULF1 and SULF2 are essential in vivo regulators of HS-mediated developmental signalling. The researchers identify an oesophageal primary neuronal innervation defect in Sulf1-/-Sulf2-/- double-null mice and show that aberrant glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) signalling causes this defect. Other experiments indicate that SULF1 and SULF2 are expressed in the developing oesophagus, that they function redundantly as the major regulators of HS 6-O-desulfation, and that Sulf activity decreases GDNF binding to HS (GDNF binds to HS through its 6-O-sulfate groups). The researchers conclude,therefore, that Sulf activity enhances GDNF signalling in normal mice,consequently promoting neurite sprouting in the embryonic oesophagus.
Sulfs set heparan sulfate code
Sulfs set heparan sulfate code. Development 15 September 2007; 134 (18): e1804. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
Call for papers: Uncovering Developmental Diversity
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: Uncovering Developmental Diversity. This issue will be coordinated by our academic Editor Cassandra Extavour (Harvard University, USA) alongside two Guest Editors: Liam Dolan (Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austria) and Karen Sears (University of California Los Angeles, USA).
Choose Development in 2024
In this Editorial, Development Editor-in-Chief James Briscoe and Executive Editor Katherine Brown explain how you support your community by publishing in Development and how the journal champions serious science, community connections and progressive publishing.
Journal Meeting: From Stem Cells to Human Development
Register now for the 2024 Development Journal Meeting From Stem Cells to Human Development. Early-bird registration deadline: 3 May. Abstract submission deadline: 21 June.
Pluripotency of a founding field: rebranding developmental biology
This collaborative Perspective, the result of a workshop held in 2023, proposes a set of community actions to increase the visibility of the developmental biology field. The authors make recommendations for new funding streams, frameworks for collaborations and mechanisms by which members of the community can promote themselves and their research.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.