Mota, Olivia Morais de Lima2020-11-052020-11-0519941994(OCoLC)41439510b22400540https://hdl.handle.net/2144/41624PLEASE NOTE: This work is protected by copyright. Downloading is restricted to the BU community: please click Download and log in with a valid BU account to access. If you are the author of this work and would like to make it publicly available, please contact open-help@bu.edu.Thesis (M.Sc.D.)--Boston University, Henry M. Goldman School of Graduate Dentistry, 1994 (Oral Biology).Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 50-59).The dolichoI pathway of protein N-glycosylation is initiated by the dolichol-P-dependent N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate transferase (GPT), encoded by the ALG7 gene. In yeast, ALG7 has been shown to be an early growth response gene. To investigate ALG7 expression during mammalian tissue growth and differentiation, we have used the postnatally developing hamster submandibular gland (SMG) as a developmental model. RNA blotting assays showed that the steady-state levels of the ALG7 transcript were higher in actively growing and undifferentiated tissue, at 4-days postpartum, and that they progressively declined throughout the postnatal period, being lowest in a fully differentiated gland. GPT activity paralleled mRNA levels, suggesting that developmental changes in enzyme activity were determined by modulation of ALG7 transcript abundance. These data indicate that the acquisition of differentiated submandibular gland phenotype correlates with downregulation of ALG7 expression. Moreover, the abundance and patterns of ALG7 transcripts varied in a cell- and tissue-specific manner, being highest in brain and kidney, and lowest in unstimulated submandibular and parotid glands.en-USThis work is protected by copyright. Downloading is restricted to the BU community. If you are the author of this work and would like to make it publicly available, please contact open-help@bu.edu.Gene expression regulation, developmentalThesis/Dissertation