(3), O-GlcNAc modification is now appreciated as a nutrient-responsive mechanism for modulating signal transduction (4, 5) and transcriptional regulation (6, 7). In contrast to N-and O-linked glycosylation taking place in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, reversible O-GlcNAcylation occurs in the cytoplasm and nucleus and is catalyzed by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), which transfers GlcNAc from UDP-GlcNAc to Ser/Thr residues, and O-GlcNAcase (OGA), which removes it. These highly conserved enzymes are expressed in all mammalian tissues (8 -11).The OGT gene encodes three splice variants differing in the number of N-terminal tetratricopeptide repeats that mediate protein-protein interactions and subcellular localization (8,12). The full-length nucleocytoplasmic form of OGT is OGlcNAc-modified, tyrosine-phosphorylated, and dynamically redistributed within the cell upon insulin stimulation (2,(13)(14)(15). Ablation of OGT is embryonically lethal or developmentally limiting in animal models (10,16,17) with the noted exception of Caenorhabditis elegans. In C. elegans, the phenotypes of oga-1 and ogt-1 null mutants suggest the enzymes are involved in macronutrient storage and life span (18 -20), and subsequent studies revealed the presence of O-GlcNAc modFrom the