Glycoconjugate expression changes during Rana dalmatina early development

Glycoconjugates are generally involved in cell adhesion and morphogenetic movements. To investigate their distribution and expression changes during amphibian development, several FITC-or HRP-labeled lectins were used in Rana dalmatina embryos and larvae. During gastrulation, WGA, ConA, HPA, GSA-I, PNA and RCA-I labeled either the envelopes on the perivitelline space-contained substances, while ectodermal cells and/or extracellular matrix were mainly labeled by WGA, GSA-I, DBA and LTA. In these structures fibronectin-like molecules were also found. ConA, HPA, RCA-I, SBA also labeled ectoderm, but with lower affinity. At larval stages, ectodermal derivatives, such as larval skin, central nervous system, eye and ear, were also strongly labeled by WGA, DBA and LTA, while the affinity to ConA, HPA, GSA-I, SBA, appeared less visible; the affinity sites to RCA-I and PNA were totally lacking. Fibronectin-like immunoreactivity was hardly present at the larval stages. These results point out that glycoconjugate expression changes in cell surface and in extracellular matrix might be developmentally regulated. For this reason the different glycoconjugates seem to play stage-specific roles in early development.