COPPER AND IRON HOMEOSTASIS IN YEAST

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Copper and iron are two essential nutrients required by all aerobic organisms for numerous biological processes including energy generation, protection from oxidative stress, and oxygen transport, among others. The mechanisms of copper and iron homeostasis are highly conserved from yeast to mammals, and much of what is known about the mechanisms of uptake and distribution of these nutrients in metazoans has come from studies in yeast. One area of investigation in our lab is aimed at understanding how yeast cells acquire copper through the coordinated transport of this metal from the extracellular environment across the plasma membrane, as well as the mobilization of copper across intracellular membranes. Evidence from our lab and others suggests that specific metalloreductases are required for high-affinity copper and iron uptake in yeast, but the details of the functional and potential physical interaction of these metalloreductases with the transport proteins are currently not understood. Here we propose to investigate the potential physical interaction between the plasma membrane metalloreductase Fre1 and the copper transporter Ctr1 in yeast using FRET.