Understanding the molecular mechanisms of human diseases: the beneﬁts of ﬁssion yeasts

Acs-Szabo, Lajos; Papp, Laszlo-Attila; Miklos, Ida

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of human diseases: the beneﬁts of ﬁssion yeasts

Authors:

Lajos Acs-Szabo, Laszlo-Attila Papp and Ida Miklos

doi: 10.15698/mic2024.08.833
Volume 11, pp. 288 to 311, published 02/08/2024.

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Affiliations:

Department of Genetics and Applied Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032, Debrecen, Hungary.

Keywords:

ﬁssion yeast, budding yeast, human disease, fungal hyphae, tumor invadopodia, molecular tools.

Corresponding Author(s):

Conflict of interest statement:

The authors declare no competing interests.

Please cite this article as:

Lajos Acs-Szabo, Laszlo Attila Papp, Ida Miklos (2024). Understanding the molecular mechanisms of human diseases: the beneﬁts of ﬁssion yeasts. Microbial Cell 11: 288-310. doi: 10.15698/mic2024.08.833

Abstract:

The role of model organisms such as yeasts in life science research is crucial. Although the baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is the most popular model among yeasts, the contribution of the ﬁssion yeasts (Schizosaccharomyces) to life science is also indisputable. Since both types of yeasts share several thousands of common orthologous genes with humans, they provide a simple research platform to investigate many fundamental molecular mechanisms and functions, thereby contributing to the understanding of the background of human diseases. In this review, we would like to highlight the many advantages of ﬁssion yeasts over budding yeasts. The usefulness of ﬁssion yeasts in virus research is shown as an example, presenting the most important research results related to the Human Immunodeﬁciency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Vpr protein. Besides, the potential role of ﬁssion yeasts in the study of prion biology is also discussed. Furthermore, we are keen to promote the uprising model yeast Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, which is a dimorphic species in the ﬁssion yeast genus. We propose the hyphal growth of S. japonicus as an unusual opportunity as a model to study the invadopodia of human cancer cells since the two seemingly different cell types can be compared along fundamental features. Here we also collect the latest laboratory protocols and bioinformatics tools for the ﬁssion yeasts to highlight the many possibilities available to the research community. In addition, we present several limiting factors that everyone should be aware of when working with yeast models.