Modifying Yeast: Delivering the Goods
Abstract (300 words maximum)
The cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) TAT-CAM has previously been shown to mediate the delivery of peptides only into mammalian cells. The Griffin lab has recently demonstrated that TAT-CaM can also be used to deliver cargo protein into select fungal cell lines. This is significant because fungus have wide-spread involvement in diverse fields of science, including biotechnology, genomics, fermentation science. They also are of medical importance as fungal infections, predominantly yeast, impact up to 300 million lives annually, resulting in 1.6 million deaths. The facilitation by TAT-CaM of the entry of biomolecules across the cell wall and into fungal cell cytoplasm potentiates the delivery of other relevant proteins into fungal cells to manipulate, improve, or disrupt the normal functioning of these cells. This study seeks to expand on the diversity of biomolecules delivered into yeast and demonstrate their activity. In this study, we want to explore the spectrum of molecules that can be delivered into the recipient yeast cells. We have selected chitinase, a bacterial enzyme from the insect pathogen Bacillus brevis bacterial enzymes, lipase and exotoxin A, two enzymes from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Lipases have utility in oil-degradation thus have bioremediation potential. Chitinases degrade chitin-rich walls found in fungus and insects thus making it attractive for use as an antifungal and in insecticides while exotoxin A is a cytotoxin and lethal to many animal cells through the disruption of protein synthesis.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CSM - Molecular and Cellular Biology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Melanie Griffin
Modifying Yeast: Delivering the Goods
The cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) TAT-CAM has previously been shown to mediate the delivery of peptides only into mammalian cells. The Griffin lab has recently demonstrated that TAT-CaM can also be used to deliver cargo protein into select fungal cell lines. This is significant because fungus have wide-spread involvement in diverse fields of science, including biotechnology, genomics, fermentation science. They also are of medical importance as fungal infections, predominantly yeast, impact up to 300 million lives annually, resulting in 1.6 million deaths. The facilitation by TAT-CaM of the entry of biomolecules across the cell wall and into fungal cell cytoplasm potentiates the delivery of other relevant proteins into fungal cells to manipulate, improve, or disrupt the normal functioning of these cells. This study seeks to expand on the diversity of biomolecules delivered into yeast and demonstrate their activity. In this study, we want to explore the spectrum of molecules that can be delivered into the recipient yeast cells. We have selected chitinase, a bacterial enzyme from the insect pathogen Bacillus brevis bacterial enzymes, lipase and exotoxin A, two enzymes from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Lipases have utility in oil-degradation thus have bioremediation potential. Chitinases degrade chitin-rich walls found in fungus and insects thus making it attractive for use as an antifungal and in insecticides while exotoxin A is a cytotoxin and lethal to many animal cells through the disruption of protein synthesis.