42 research outputs found
Killer toxin of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y500-4L active against Fleischmann and Itaiquara commercial brands of yeast
pet 18: A chromosomal gene required for cell growth and for the maintenance of mitochondrial DNA and the killer plasmid of yeast
Role of protein processing, intracellular trafficking and endocytosis in production of and immunity to yeast killer toxin
The yeast Sup35NM domain propagates as a prion in mammalian cells.
Prions are infectious, self-propagating amyloid-like protein aggregates of mammals and fungi. We have studied aggregation propensities of a yeast prion domain in cell culture to gain insights into general mechanisms of prion replication in mammalian cells. Here, we report the artificial transmission of a yeast prion across a phylogenetic kingdom. HA epitope-tagged yeast Sup35p prion domain NM was stably expressed in murine neuroblastoma cells. Although cytosolically expressed NM-HA remained soluble, addition of fibrils of bacterially produced Sup35NM to the medium efficiently induced appearance of phenotypically and biochemically distinct NM- HA aggregates that were inherited by daughter cells. Importantly, NM-HA aggregates also were infectious to recipient mammalian cells expressing soluble NM-HA and, to a lesser extent, to yeast. The fact that the yeast Sup35NM domain can propagate as a prion in neuroblastoma cells strongly argues that cellular mechanisms support prion-like inheritance in the mammalian cytosol