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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

Protein Degradation Regulates Phospholipid Biosynthetic Gene Expression In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Bryan Salas-Santiago Mar 2019

Protein Degradation Regulates Phospholipid Biosynthetic Gene Expression In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Bryan Salas-Santiago

Doctoral Dissertations

Transcriptional regulation of most phospholipid biosynthetic genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is coordinated by inositol and choline. Inositol affects phosphatidic acid (PA) intracellular levels. Opi1p interacts physically with PA and is the main repressor of the phospholipid biosynthetic genes. It is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) bound to the ER membrane protein Scs2p. When PA levels drop, Opi1p is translocated into the nucleus repressing most phospholipid biosynthetic genes. The OPI1 locus was identified in a screen looking for overproduction and excretion of inositol (Opi-). Opi- mutants are generally associated with a defect in …


Translocation Of Cyclin C During Oxidative Stress Is Regulated By Interactions With Multiple Trafficking Proteins, Daniel G J Smethurst, Katrina F Cooper, Randy Strich Dec 2017

Translocation Of Cyclin C During Oxidative Stress Is Regulated By Interactions With Multiple Trafficking Proteins, Daniel G J Smethurst, Katrina F Cooper, Randy Strich

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

Eukaryotic cells take cues from their environment and interpret them to enact a response. External stresses can produce a decision between adjusting to behaviors which promote surviving the stress, or enacting a cell death program. The decision to undergo programmed cell death (PCD) is controlled by a complex interaction between nuclear and mitochondrial signals. The mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles that constantly undergo fission and fusion. However, a dramatic shift in mitochondrial morphology toward fission occurs early in the PCD process. We have identified the transcription factor cyclin C as the biochemical trigger for stress‐induced mitochondrial hyper‐fragmentation in yeast (Cooper …


The Role Of Mapk And Scf In The Destruction Of Med13 In Cyclin C Mediated Cell Death, David C Stieg, Stephen D Willis, Joseph Scuorzo, Mia Song, Vidyaramanan Ganesan, Randy Strich, Katrina F Cooper Dec 2017

The Role Of Mapk And Scf In The Destruction Of Med13 In Cyclin C Mediated Cell Death, David C Stieg, Stephen D Willis, Joseph Scuorzo, Mia Song, Vidyaramanan Ganesan, Randy Strich, Katrina F Cooper

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

In response to stress, the yeast1 and mammalian2 cyclin C translocate from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, where it associates with the GTPase Drp1/Dnm1 to drive mitochondrial fragmentation and apoptosis. Therefore, the decision to release cyclin C represents a key life or death decision. In unstressed cells, the cyclin C‐Cdk8 kinase regulates transcription by associating with the Mediator of RNA polymerase II. We previously reported that the Mediator component Med13 anchors cyclin C in the nucleus3. Loss of Med13 function leads to constitutive cytoplasmic localization of cyclin C, resulting in fragmented mitochondria, hypersensitivity to stress and …


Profiling Resistance To P450-Activated Food Carcinogens Using Toxicogenomic Approaches In Budding Yeast, Nicholas Stjohn Jan 2017

Profiling Resistance To P450-Activated Food Carcinogens Using Toxicogenomic Approaches In Budding Yeast, Nicholas Stjohn

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The human response to environmental carcinogens, some of which require metabolic activation, is highly variable. Factors such as environment, lifestyle, and genetics all influence the rates of exposure to and ultimate bioactivation of these compounds. Genetic factors include mutations to cell-cycle regulation, cell proliferation, and DNA repair genes; however, epidemiological studies may lack significance due to inadequate patient numbers. We used budding yeast as a model organism to determine genetic susceptibility to food-associated carcinogens, including aflatoxin (AFB1) and heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs). Budding yeast does not contain P450s that activate these compounds, so expression vectors were induced that contain human …


Characterization Of Histone Mutants Associated With Mitotic Defects In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Md Riajul Hossain Aug 2016

Characterization Of Histone Mutants Associated With Mitotic Defects In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Md Riajul Hossain

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nucleosomes, the basic unit and the building blocks of chromatin have an essential role in the tight packaging of DNA into higher order chromatin. Work from our lab and others have provided information on the contributions of different histone proteins and specific domains within the nucleosome made to create the centromeric chromatin structure required for normal chromosome segregation during mitosis. The DNA entry/exit site is a particular region of the nucleosome where histone H2A, H3 and H4 form critical interactions that appear to be essential for the association of Sgo1, a tension sensing protein that monitors kinetochore-microtubule attachment. In our …


A Novel Synthetic Yeast For Enzymatic Biodigester Pretreatment, Tianyu Tan, Mark S. Aronson, Arren Liu, Jill H. Osterhus, Melissa Robins, Suraj Mohan, Erich Leazer, Bowman Clark, Alexa Petrucciani, Katherine Lowery, James Welch, Casey Martin, Helena Lysandrou, Michael E. Scharf, Jenna Rickus Aug 2015

A Novel Synthetic Yeast For Enzymatic Biodigester Pretreatment, Tianyu Tan, Mark S. Aronson, Arren Liu, Jill H. Osterhus, Melissa Robins, Suraj Mohan, Erich Leazer, Bowman Clark, Alexa Petrucciani, Katherine Lowery, James Welch, Casey Martin, Helena Lysandrou, Michael E. Scharf, Jenna Rickus

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Lignin, a complex organic polymer, is a major roadblock to the efficiency of biofuel conversion as it both physically blocks carbohydrate substrates and poisons biomass degrading enzymes, even if broken down to monomer units. A pretreatment process is often applied to separate the lignin from biomass prior to biofuel conversion. However, contemporary methods of pretreatment require large amounts of energy, which may be economically uncompelling or unfeasible. Taking inspiration from several genes that have been isolated from termites and fungi which translate to enzymes that degrade lignin, we want to establish a novel “enzymatic pretreatment” system where microbes secrete these …


Prolonged Glucose Deprivation Sensitizes Snf1 To Negative Regulation By Pka To Delay Entry Into Quiescence, Leah Bernadette Doughty May 2013

Prolonged Glucose Deprivation Sensitizes Snf1 To Negative Regulation By Pka To Delay Entry Into Quiescence, Leah Bernadette Doughty

Theses and Dissertations

AMPK, the fuel gauge of the cell, and its upstream kinase, LKB1, have been implicated in cancer prevention and stress response associated with energy exhaustion. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Snf1 is the ortholog of mammalian AMPK. In S. cerevisiae, Snf1 is activated by phosphorylation of its T–loop at Thr210, primarily by its upstream kinase Sak1, in absence of the preferred carbon source, glucose, or during some other stress responses. Cyclic AMP–dependent protein kinase A, PKA, is involved in nutrient signaling largely antagonistically to Snf1. Using yeast strains of the Sigma 1278b genetic background, which have a high basal level …


Identification Of New Cell Size Control Genes In S. Cerevisiae, Huzefa Dungrawala, Hui Hua, Jill Wright, Lesley Abraham, Thivakorn Kasemsri, Anthony Mcdowell, Jessica Stilwell, Brandt L. Schneider Jan 2012

Identification Of New Cell Size Control Genes In S. Cerevisiae, Huzefa Dungrawala, Hui Hua, Jill Wright, Lesley Abraham, Thivakorn Kasemsri, Anthony Mcdowell, Jessica Stilwell, Brandt L. Schneider

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

Cell size homeostasis is a conserved attribute in many eukaryotic species involving a tight regulation between the processes of growth and proliferation. In budding yeast S. cerevisiae, growth to a “critical cell size” must be achieved before a cell can progress past START and commit to cell division. Numerous studies have shown that progression past START is actively regulated by cell size control genes, many of which have implications in cell cycle control and cancer. Two initial screens identified genes that strongly modulate cell size in yeast. Since a second generation yeast gene knockout collection has been generated, we screened …