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Mechanism for oscillatory synthesis of cyclic AMP in Dictyostelium discoideum

Abstract

CELLS of the slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum aggregate around centres into multicellular fruiting bodies as a chemotactic response to cyclic AMP (refs 1 and 2). The wave-like character of this phenomenon suggests the release of cyclic AMP pulses by the founder cells3,4. In this respect, metabolic oscillations controlled by cyclic AMP have been observed in suspension cultures of D. discoideum cells capable of forming aggregates5. We present here a mechanism for both these intracellular oscillations and the periodic release of chemotactic signal by aggregation centres.

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GOLDBETER, A. Mechanism for oscillatory synthesis of cyclic AMP in Dictyostelium discoideum. Nature 253, 540–542 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/253540a0

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