An adenine model of inborn metabolism errors alters TDP-43 aggregation and reduces its toxicity in yeast revealing insights into protein misfolding diseases

May 22, 2025

This work offers new insights into the potential interactions between me-tabolite-based amyloids and pathological protein aggregates, with broad implications for understanding protein misfolding diseases.

Integrative Omics reveals changes in the cellular landscape of peroxisome-deficient pex3 yeast cells

February 20, 2025

To uncover the consequences of peroxisome deficiency, we compared Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild-type with pex3 cells, which lack peroxisomes, employing quantitative proteomics and transcriptomics technologies.

Exploring carbon source related localization and phosphorylation in the Snf1/Mig1 network using population and single cell-based approaches

May 16, 2024

In this work we set out to explore the relationship between the subcellular localization and regulation of kinases in the context of carbon source signaling. The data presented in this paper reinforce the notion that not only the activation/inactivation of kinases but also their subcellular localization and that of their targets influence fate decisions in response to environmental changes.

Caspase 3 exhibits a yeast metacaspase proteostasis function that protects mitochondria from toxic TDP43 aggregates

July 10, 2023

Caspase 3 activation is a hallmark of cell death and there is a strong correlation between elevated protease activity and evolving pathology in neurodegenerative disease, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These results suggest that caspase 3 is not inherently pathogenic, but may act as a compensatory proteostasis factor, to limit TDP-43 protein inclusions and protect organelle function in aggregation related degenerative disease.

Metallothionein Cup1 attenuates nitrosative stress in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

July 10, 2023

Our findings suggest that the yeast metallothionein Cup1 contributes to nitrosative stress tolerance, possibly as a constitutive rather than an inducible defense mechanism.

The rise of Candida auris: from unique traits to co-infection potential

August 1, 2022

Candida auris is a multidrug resistant (MDR) fungal pathogen with a crude mortality rate of 30-60%. First identified in 2009, C. auris has been rapidly rising to become a global risk in clinical settings and was declared an urgent health threat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A concerted global action is thus needed to successfully tackle the challenges created by this emerging fungal pathogen. In this brief article, we underline the importance of unique virulence traits, including its easy transformation, its persistence outside the host and its resilience against multiple cellular stresses, as well as of environmental factors that have mainly contributed to the rise of this superbug.

A hundred spotlights on microbiology: how microorganisms shape our lives

April 4, 2022

Viral, bacterial, fungal and protozoal biology is of cardinal importance for the evolutionary history of life, ecology, biotechnology and infectious diseases. Various microbiological model systems have fundamentally contributed to the understanding of molecular and cellular processes, including the cell cycle, cell death, mitochondrial biogenesis, vesicular fusion and autophagy, among many others. Microbial interactions within the environment have profound effects on many fields of biology, from ecological diversity to the highly complex and multifaceted impact of the microbiome on human health. Also, biotechnological innovation and corresponding industrial operations strongly depend on microbial engineering. With this wide range of impact in mind, the peer-reviewed (...)

Yeast goes viral: probing SARS-CoV-2 biology using S. cerevisiae

March 21, 2022

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has long been an outstanding platform for understanding the biology of eukaryotic cells. Robust genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry complement deep and detailed genome annotation, a multitude of genome-scale strain collections for functional genomics, and substantial gene conservation with Metazoa to comprise a powerful model for modern biological research. Recently, the yeast model has demonstrated its utility in a perhaps unexpected area, that of eukaryotic virology. Here we discuss three innovative applications of the yeast model system to reveal functions and investigate variants of proteins encoded by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Urm1, not quite a ubiquitin-like modifier?

September 21, 2021

This article comments on work published by Brachmann et al. (Redox Biol, 2020), which studied urmylation of the yeast 2-Cys peroxiredoxin Ahp1, uncovering that promiscuous lysine target sites and specific redox requirements determine the Urm1 acceptor activity of the peroxiredoxin.

Genome, transcriptome and secretome analyses of the antagonistic, yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans to identify potential biocontrol genes

June 8, 2021

This study highlights the value of a sequential approach starting with genome mining and consecutive transcriptome and secretome analyses in order to identify a limited number of potential target genes for detailed, functional analyses in Aureobasidium pullulans.

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