Factors affecting membrane traffic in yeast

细胞正常功能的能力取决于其蛋白质和脂质补体的分离到适当的细胞内位置。这是通过一个称为膜运输的复杂过程实现的，即蛋白质和脂质在小泡载体中在细胞器之间穿梭。一些细胞器，如高尔基体，从许多不同的隔间接收传入的货物，因此，必须能够协调这一过程，以避免可能干扰其正常功能的形态变化。在查明在具体贩运途径中起作用的因素方面进行了大量工作。然而，正如上面的例子所强调的，有必要了解这些单独的途径如何相互沟通，以避免有害的情况。这是一个刚刚开始研究的领域，也是我提出的研究计划的很大一部分的基础。在过去的十年里，我的工作主要集中在酵母中一个名为TRAPP的相关蛋白复合物家族及其在膜运输中的作用。这个家族的一个成员在高尔基隔室的水平上起作用。我们将建立在最近的几个发现的基础上，这些发现表明这种蛋白质复合物与高尔基体晚期和高尔基体内部交通所需的其他因素相互作用。我们将探讨这些相互作用以及它们如何影响特定的膜运输步骤。我们还将以我们小组最近的另一项研究为基础，该研究对各种TRAPP复合物之间的关系以及它们在细胞中的确切功能提出了质疑。这将通过使用纯化的成分在体外完全重建trapp依赖的膜运输途径来探索。这些方法将使我们能够探索几种细胞通路之间的串扰，这是一个研究领域，其重要性直到最近才被发现。

The ability of a cell to properly function is dependent on the segregation of its complement of proteins and lipids to the appropriate intracellular location. This is achieved by a complex process referred to as membrane traffic, whereby the proteins and lipids shuttle between organelles in small vesicular carriers. Some organelles, such as the Golgi, receive incoming cargo from many different compartments and, therefore, must be able to coordinate this process to avoid morphological changes which could interfere with its proper functioning. Much work has been devoted to identifying the factors that function in specific trafficking pathways. However, as the example above highlights, there is a need to understand how these individual pathways communicate with each other to avoid detrimental situations. This is an area of study that is only beginning to be addressed and forms the basis for a large portion of my proposed research program. Over the past decade my work has focused on a family of related protein complexes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae called TRAPP and their roles in membrane traffic. One member of this family functions at the level of the Golgi compartment. We will build off of several recent findings that suggest that this protein complex physically interacts with other factors required for traffic both at the late Golgi and within the Golgi. We will explore these interactions and how they affect specific membrane trafficking steps. We will also build off of another recent study from our group that calls into question the relationship between the various TRAPP complexes and where exactly they function in the cell. This will be explored by fully reconstituting the TRAPP-dependent membrane trafficking pathways in vitro using purified components. These approaches will allow us to explore the cross-talk between several cellular pathways, an area of research whose importance has only very recently come to light.