Going LARGE

摘要

Dystroglycan (DG) is a highly glycosylated extracellular matrix (ECM) receptor involved in a variety of physiological processes, including maintenance of skeletal muscle membrane integrity and the structure and function of the central nervous system. The like-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (LARGE) is responsible for posttranslational modifications of alpha-dystroglycan (a-DG) required for its function. Now, Inamori et at. (p. 93) demonstrate that LARGE is a bifunctional glycosyltransferase able to transfer xylose and glucuronic acid. These modifications allow a-DG to bind the laminin-G domain-containing ECM ligands: laminin, agrin, and neurexin.