Combinatorial expression patterns of heparan sulfate sulfotransferases in zebrafish: III. 2‐O‐sulfotransferase and C5‐epimerases

Abstract

Heparan sulfate (HS) is an unbranched chain of repetitive disaccharides, which specifically binds ligands when attached to the cell surface or secreted extracellularly. HS chains contain sulfated domains, termed the HS fine structure, which give HS specific binding affinities for extracellular ligands. HS 2-Osulfotransferase (2-OST) catalyzes the transfer of sulfate groups to the 2-O position of uronic acid residues of HS. We report here the characterization and developmental expression patterns of 2-OST in several tissues/organs throughout early zebrafish development, including early cleavage stages, eyes, somites, brain, internal organ primordial, and pectoral fin. The 2-OST gene has spatially and temporally distinct expression, which is a surprise given the essential role of 2-OST in HS fine structure formation. Furthermore, although 2-OST and C5-epimerase are predicted to be interdependent for protein translocation from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi, their expression is not coordinately regulated during zebrafish development. Developmental Dynamics 236:581-586, 2007.

The Ndst Gene Family in Zebrafish: Role of Ndst1b in Pharyngeal Arch Formation

“…In zebrafish, all ndst enzyme isoforms were expressed in varying brain regions throughout the development, with the ndst3 isoform expressed predominantly in the central nervous system. Previous studies of the other HS modifying enzymes also revealed highly specific spatial and temporal expression patterns of enzyme paralogs during Danio rerio development [12, 42–46] indicating a need of strict regulation of HS structure in developmental processes. Differences in enzyme kinetics and substrate preferences of the different isoforms could possibly result in variable HS structures.…”

“…To this date, eight 3-OSTs [9] and four 6-OSTs [10–12] have been characterized in zebrafish. One 2- O -sulfotransferase and two zebrafish C5-epimerase genes, Glce-A and Glce-B, have also been reported [13, 14]. Despite the key role that NDST enzymes play in HS biosynthesis, only one previous morpholino (MO) knockdown study of an ndst homolog in zebrafish has been published.…”

Zebrafish encoded 3-O-sulfotransferase-2 generated heparan sulfate serves as a receptor during HSV-1 entry and spread

“…Likewise, there is a growing literature on the use of ZF as a model to study viral diseases including herpes simplex virus [11–16]. Interestingly ZF is known to express multiple isoforms of heparan sulfate modifying enzyme 3- O -sulfotransferase (3- O ST) [17–19]. Cadwallader and Yost [18] reported in vivo characterization of eight 3- O ST family members in ZF with seven genes showing homology to known 3- O ST genes in mouse and humans.…”

Sdc2 and Tbx16 regulate Fgf2-dependent epithelial cell morphogenesis in the ciliated organ of asymmetry

“…This suggests that Sdc2 might be the primary HSPG functioning in DFCs/KV, and that other HSPG core proteins provide redundant regulation of tbx16 in other tissues. Alternatively, cell-specific HS-GAG modifications, through families of sulfotransferases with tissue-and development-specific expression patterns (Cadwallader and Yost, 2006a;Cadwallader and Yost, 2006b;Cadwallader and Yost, 2007), might enable Sdc2 to regulate tbx16 expression in DFCs/KV, but not in other tissues.…”