Nutrient sensing and cAMP signaling in yeast: G-protein coupled receptor versus transceptor activation of PKA

October 12, 2020

The herein presented work supports a model, in which nutrient transceptors are evolutionary ancestors of GPCRs, employing a more primitive direct signaling mechanism compared to the indirect cAMP second-messenger signaling mechanism used by GPCRs for activation of PKA.

Identification of Ftr1 and Zrt1 as iron and zinc micronutrient transceptors for activation of the PKA pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

March 2, 2017

We now show that the yeast high-affinity iron transporter Ftr1 and high-affinity zinc transporter Zrt1 function as transceptors for the micronutrients iron and zinc. We show that replenishment of iron to iron-starved cells or zinc to zinc-starved cells triggers within 1-2 minutes a rapid surge in trehalase activity, a well-established PKA target.