Abstact

O-GlcNAcylation is a reversible type of serine/threonine glycosylation on nucleocytoplasmic proteins in metazoa. Various genetic approaches in several animal models have revealed that O-GlcNAcylation is essential for embryogenesis. However, the dynamic changes in global O-GlcNAcylation and the underlying mechanistic biology linking them to embryonic development is not understood. One of the limiting factors towards characterizing changes in O-GlcNAcylation has been the limited specificity of currently available tools to detect this modification. In the present study, harnessing the unusual properties of an O-GlcNAcase (OGA) mutant that binds O-GlcNAc (O-N-acetylglucosamine) sites with nanomolar affinity, we uncover changes in protein O-GlcNAcylation as a function of Drosophila development.