Abstract
SINGLE cells of the slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum differentiate after the end of the growth phase of their life cycle into interacting cells which form aggregates by chemotaxis towards a source of cyclic AMP1,2, with the formation of specific contacts between cells3–5. Emergence into the aggregation phase coincides with an increase in the number of specific contact sites (known as contact sites A; ref. 3) on the surface of the cells. The appearance of contact sites A is thus an index of differentiation and we have used it to test the hypothesis that cyclic AMP is a signal for initiating differentiation6,7, as well as acting as the aggregation signal for differentiated cells.
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GERISCH, G., FROMM, H., HUESGEN, A. et al. Control of cell-contact sites by cyclic AMP pulses in differentiating Dictyostelium cells. Nature 255, 547–549 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/255547a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/255547a0
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