Channeling studies in yeast: yeast as a model for channelopathies?

Calcium Ion Channels in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Regulating calcium ion (Ca²⁺) channels to improve the cell cycle and metabolism is a promising technology, ensuring increased cell growth, differentiation, and/or productivity. In this regard, the composition and structure of Ca²⁺ channels play a vital role in controlling the gating states. In this review, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as a model eukaryotic organism and an essential industrial microorganism, was used to discuss the effect of its type, composition, structure, and gating mechanism on the activity of Ca²⁺ channels. Furthermore, the advances in the application of Ca²⁺ channels in pharmacology, tissue engineering, and biochemical engineering are summarized, with a special focus on exploring the receptor site of Ca²⁺ channels for new drug design strategies and different therapeutic uses, targeting Ca²⁺ channels to produce functional replacement tissues, creating favorable conditions for tissue regeneration, and regulating Ca²⁺ channels to enhance biotransformation efficiency.

Investigating Potassium Channels in Budding Yeast: A Genetic Sandbox

Like all species, the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or Bakers' yeast, concentrates potassium in the cytosol as an electrogenic osmolyte and enzyme cofactor. Yeast are capable of robust growth on a wide variety of potassium concentrations, ranging from 10 µM to 2.5 M, due to the presence of a high-affinity potassium uptake system and a battery of cation exchange transporters. Genetic perturbation of either of these systems retards yeast growth on low or high potassium, respectively. However, these potassium-sensitized yeast are a powerful genetic tool, which has been leveraged for diverse studies. Notably, the potassium-sensitive cells can be transformed with plasmids encoding potassium channels from bacteria, plants, or mammals, and subsequent changes in growth rate have been found to correlate with the activity of the introduced potassium channel. Discoveries arising from the use of this assay over the past three decades have increased our understanding of the structure-function relationships of various potassium channels, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of potassium channel function and trafficking, and the chemical basis of potassium channel modulation. In this article, we provide an overview of the major genetic tools used to study potassium channels in S. cerevisiae, a survey of seminal studies utilizing these tools, and a prospective for the future use of this elegant genetic approach.

Endocytic regulation of alkali metal transport proteins in mammals, yeast and plants

The relative concentrations of ions and solutes inside cells are actively maintained by several classes of transport proteins, in many cases against their concentration gradient. These transport processes, which consume a large portion of cellular energy, must be constantly regulated. Many structurally distinct families of channels, carriers, and pumps have been characterized in considerable detail during the past decades and defects in the function of some of these proteins have been linked to a growing list of human diseases. The dynamic regulation of the transport proteins present at the cell surface is vital for both normal cellular function and for the successful adaptation to changing environments. The composition of proteins present at the cell surface is controlled on both the transcriptional and post-translational level. Post-translational regulation involves highly conserved mechanisms of phosphorylation- and ubiquitylation-dependent signal transduction routes used to modify the cohort of receptors and transport proteins present under any given circumstances. In this review, we will summarize what is currently known about one facet of this regulatory process: the endocytic regulation of alkali metal transport proteins. The physiological relevance, major contributors, parallels and missing pieces of the puzzle in mammals, yeast and plants will be discussed.

The GEF1 proton-chloride exchanger affects tombusvirus replication via regulation of copper metabolism in yeast

Replication of plus-strand RNA viruses [(+)RNA viruses] is performed by viral replicases, whose function is affected by many cellular factors in infected cells. In this paper, we demonstrate a surprising role for Gef1p proton-chloride exchanger in replication of Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) model (+)RNA virus. A genetic approach revealed that Gef1p, which is the only proton-chloride exchanger in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is required for TBSV replication in the yeast model host. We also show that the in vitro activity of the purified tombusvirus replicase from gef1Δ yeast was low and that the in vitro assembly of the viral replicase in a cell extract was inhibited by the cytosolic fraction obtained from gef1Δ yeast. Altogether, our data reveal that Gef1p modulates TBSV replication via regulating Cu(2+) metabolism in the cell. This conclusion is supported by several lines of evidence, including the direct inhibitory effect of Cu(2+) ions on the in vitro assembly of the viral replicase, on the activity of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and an inhibitory effect of deletion of CCC2 copper pump on TBSV replication in yeast, while altered iron metabolism did not reduce TBSV replication. In addition, applying a chloride channel blocker impeded TBSV replication in Nicotiana benthamiana protoplasts or in whole plants. Overall, blocking Gef1p function seems to inhibit TBSV replication through altering Cu(2+) ion metabolism in the cytosol, which then inhibits the normal functions of the viral replicase.

Putative calcium channels CchA and MidA play the important roles in conidiation, hyphal polarity and cell wall components in Aspergillus nidulans

Although the high affinity Ca²⁺ channel, Cch1, and its subunit Mid1 have been investigated and evaluated in yeast and some of filamentous fungi, little is known about the function of their homologs in the Aspergilli. Here, we have functionally characterized the yeast homologs, CchA and MidA, in Aspergillus nidulans using conditional and null deletion mutants. CchA and MidA not only have functional benefits of fast growth, which is consistent with Cch1 and Mid1 in yeast, but also have unique and complex roles in regulating conidiation, hyphal polarity and cell wall components in low-calcium environments. The defect of CchA or MidA resulted in a sharp reduction in the number of conidiospores, accompanied by abnormal metulae, and undeveloped-phialides at a higher density of inoculum. Most interestingly, these conidiation defects in mutants can, remarkably, be rescued either by extra-cellular Ca²⁺ in a calcineurin-dependent way or by osmotic stress in a calcineurin-independent way. Moreover, the fact that the phenotypic defects are not exacerbated by the presence of the double deletion, together with the Y2H assay, indicates that CchA and MidA may form a complex to function together. Our findings suggest that the high-affinity Ca²⁺ channel may represent a viable and completely unexplored avenue to reduce conidiation in the Aspergilli.

Prototype for automatable, dielectrophoretically-accessed intracellular membrane-potential measurements by metal electrodes

Functional access to membrane proteins, for example, ion channels, of individual cells is an important prerequisite in drug discovery studies. The highly sophisticated patch-clamp method is widely used for electrogenic membrane proteins, but is demanding for the operator, and its automation remains challenging. The dielectrophoretically-accessed, intracellular membrane-potential measurement (DAIMM) method is a new technique showing high potential for automation of electrophysiological data recording in the whole-cell configuration. A cell suspension is brought between a mm-scaled planar electrode and a μm-scaled tip electrode, placed opposite to each other. Due to the asymmetric electrode configuration, the application of alternating electric fields (1-5 MHz) provokes a dielectrophoretic force acting on the target cell. As a consequence, the cell is accelerated and pierced by the tip electrode, hence functioning as the internal (working) electrode. We used the light-gated cation channel Channelrhodopsin-2 as a reporter protein expressed in HEK293 cells to characterize the DAIMM method in comparison with the patch-clamp technique.

Hal4 and Hal5 protein kinases are required for general control of carbon and nitrogen uptake and metabolism

The yeast protein kinases Sat4/Hal4 and Hal5 are required for the plasma membrane stability of the K(+) transporter Trk1 and some amino acid and glucose permeases. The transcriptomic analysis presented here indicates alterations in the general control of the metabolism of both nitrogen and carbon. Accordingly, we observed reduced uptake of methionine and leucine in the hal4 hal5 mutant. This decrease correlates with activation of the Gcn2-Gcn4 pathway, as measured by expression of the lacZ gene under the control of the GCN4 promoter. However, with the exception of methionine biosynthetic genes, few amino acid biosynthetic genes are induced in the hal4 hal5 mutant, whereas several genes involved in amino acid catabolism are repressed. Concerning glucose metabolism, we found that this mutant exhibits derepression of respiratory genes in the presence of glucose, leading to an increased activity of mitochondrial enzymes, as measured by succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity. In addition, the reduced glucose consumption in the hal4 hal5 mutant correlates with a more acidic intracellular pH and with low activity of the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase. As a compensatory mechanism for the low glycolytic rate, the hal4 hal5 mutant overexpresses the HXT4 high-affinity glucose transporter and the hexokinase genes. These results indicate that the hal4 hal5 mutant presents defects in the general control of nitrogen and carbon metabolism, which correlate with reduced transport of amino acids and glucose, respectively. A more acidic intracellular pH may contribute to some defects of this mutant.

Oxidative stress and alterations in actin cytoskeleton trigger glutathione efflux in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A marked deficiency in glutathione (GSH), the most abundant antioxidant in living systems, plays a major role in aging and the pathogenesis of diseases ranging from neurological disorders to early atherosclerosis and the impairment of various immunological functions. In an attempt to shed light on GSH homeostasis, we carried out the space experiment SCORE (Saccharomyces cerevisiae oxidative stress response evaluation) during the FOTON-M3 mission. Microgravity and hyperoxic conditions induced an enormous extracellular release of GSH from S. cerevisiae cells (≈40% w/dw), changed the distribution of the buds, and activated the high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) and cell integrity/PKC pathways, as well as protein carbonylation. The results from the single spaceflight experiment were validated by a complete set of experiments under conditions of simulated microgravity and indicate that cytoskeletal alterations are mainly responsible for the observed effects. The results of ground experiments in which we induced cytoskeletal modifications by means of treatment with dihydrocytochalasin B (DHCB), a potent inhibitor of actin polymerisation, or (R)-(+)-trans-4-(1-aminoethyl)-N-(4-pyridyl)cyclohexanecarboxamide dihydrochloride monohydrate (Y-27632), a selective ROCK (Rho-associated coiled-coil forming protein serine/threonine kinase) inhibitor, confirmed the role of actin in GSH efflux. We also found that the GSH release can be inhibited using the potent chloride channel blocker 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino) benzoic acid (NPPB).

Identification and inhibitory properties of a novel Ca(2+)/calmodulin antagonist

We developed a high-throughput yeast-based assay to screen for chemical inhibitors of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent kinase pathways. After screening two small libraries, we identified the novel antagonist 125-C9, a substituted ethyleneamine. In vitro kinase assays confirmed that 125-C9 inhibited several calmodulin-dependent kinases (CaMKs) competitively with Ca(2+)/calmodulin (Ca(2+)/CaM). This suggested that 125-C9 acted as an antagonist for Ca(2+)/CaM rather than for CaMKs. We confirmed this hypothesis by showing that 125-C9 binds directly to Ca(2+)/CaM using isothermal titration calorimetry. We further characterized binding of 125-C9 to Ca(2+)/CaM and compared its properties with those of two well-studied CaM antagonists: trifluoperazine (TFP) and W-13. Isothermal titration calorimetry revealed that binding of 125-C9 to CaM is absolutely Ca(2+)-dependent, likely occurs with a stoichiometry of five 125-C9 molecules to one CaM molecule, and involves an exchange of two protons at pH 7.0. Binding of 125-C9 is driven overall by entropy and appears to be competitive with TFP and W-13, which is consistent with occupation of similar binding sites. To test the effects of 125-C9 in living cells, we evaluated mitogen-stimulated re-entry of quiescent cells into proliferation and found similar, although slightly better, levels of inhibition by 125-C9 than by TFP and W-13. Our results not only define a novel Ca(2+)/CaM inhibitor but also reveal that chemically unique CaM antagonists can bind CaM by distinct mechanisms but similarly inhibit cellular actions of CaM.