Cyclin Dependent Kinases, Cdc28 and Pho85, Controlling Nutrient Copper Homeostasis

这个项目将研究生物学中一个根本性的重要问题，即生物如何在生物发育过程中监控和确保充足的营养供应。众所周知，营养缺乏会阻止细胞分裂。细胞周期是生物体发育最基本的过程。铜是一种基本的营养物质，它在某种程度上是独特的，因为它是必需的，但在高水平下是有毒的。因此，电池必须保持平衡的铜水平，以便它不会太低也不会太高。为了平衡铜含量，电池必须感知和发出它们生活和分裂所在环境的铜状态信号。目前，关于电池如何监控铜的可用性，从而增加或阻止从环境中吸收铜的情况，人们知之甚少。这个项目使用面包师的酵母酿酒酵母来研究生物如何获得足够的铜来生长和发育。在酵母中观察到的初步研究表明，从环境中吸收的铜受到推动细胞分裂的过程的控制。这一发现表明，细胞周期和营养铜的动态平衡是相互整合的。因此，细胞周期控制铜摄取的研究将成为理解细胞如何在细胞发育过程中监控和确保充足的营养供应的模型。这项研究不仅有助于解决细胞生物学中的一个基本问题，而且还将把细胞周期生物学、营养科学和金属离子生物学等领域机械地联系起来。他们将扩大目前对细胞周期在细胞生物学中的作用的理解。这项研究也为在多学科研究环境中培养研究生和本科生提供了一个极好的机会。

This project will study a fundamentally important question in biology, that is, how living organisms monitor and ensure an adequate supply of nutrients during organismal development. Nutrient deprivation is known to stop the cells from dividing. The cell cycle is the most basic process underlying organismal development. One essential nutrient is copper, which is somewhat unique in that it is essential but toxic at high levels. Thus, the cells have to keep a balanced copper level so that it is not too low and not too high. To balance the copper content, the cells must sense and signal the copper status of the environment in which they live and divide. Currently, very little is known about how cells monitor the copper availability so that they either increase or block taking up copper from the environment. This project uses the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to study how living organisms secure enough copper for growth and development. Preliminary studies observed in yeast show that copper taken in from the environment is under the control of processes that drive cell division. This discovery shows that the cell cycle and nutrient copper homeostasis are integrated with each other. Thus, the study of cell cycle controlling copper uptake will serve as a model for the understanding of how cells monitor and ensure an adequate supply of nutrients during cell development. The research will not only help to solve a fundamental question in cell biology but also mechanistically link the fields of cell cycle biology, nutrition sciences, and the biology of metal ions. They will expand the current understanding of the roles for the cell cycle in cell biology. This research also provides an excellent opportunity for training graduate and undergraduate students in a multidisciplinary research environment.