Glycobiology, 1999, Vol. 9, No. 12 1323-1330
© 1999 Oxford University Press
Expression of the Lewis groupcarbohydrate antigens during Xenopus development
2Cell & Information,Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO),Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST), Tsukuba 305, Japan, 3Wellcome/CRC Institute,University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK,and 4Institute of Human Genetics,University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
We have examined the pattern of expression of the Lewis groupcarbohydrate antigens during the development of African toad Xenopus laevis. One of these antigens, Lewis x (Lex,also known as SSEA-1), was previously shown to be involved in cell–celladhesion in early mouse embryos and teratocarcinoma stem cells.Recently another member of these antigens, sialyl-Lex,was found to be one of the major ligands for the selectin familyof cell–cell adhesion molecules. In order to study therole of carbohydrate-mediated cell adhesion during Xenopus development,we first studied the expression pattern of the Lex. Wefound that Lex was not expressed in early embryos, startedto be expressed at the tail bud stage in anterior regions of thebody such as the cement gland or head skin, and was gradually showedmore posterial expression at later stages. At tadpole stage, itwas also expressed on specific cell bodies in brain, and in axon regionin brain and neural retina. Antibodies against Lex blockedneurite outgrowth in the explant culture of tadpole brain. One ofthe candidates for Lex carrier protein in the tadpolebrain is a 200 kDa glycoprotein detected by Western blotting. Inadult tissues, it was expressed in brain, testis, and gut, but notin kidney, lung, spleen, ovary, or muscle. We also examined theexpression patterns of other Lewis group antigens. Among them, sialyl-Lex was expressedon endothelial cells and on leukocytes, suggesting the possibilitythat it functions as a ligand for selectin in Xenopus.
a Towhom correspondence should be addressed at: Division of Experimental AnimalResearch, Life Science Tsukuba Research Center, The Institute of Physicaland Chemical Research (RIKEN), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0074, Japan
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