MEMBRANE ORIENTATION OF BACTERIAL CELL DIVISION PROTEIN

在细胞分化过程中，子代细胞可以有不同的 命运。这些命运可能反映了一个有机体的发育，或者它们 可能是一种病理的表现，如肿瘤发生。而当 在理解监管方面取得了重大进展 负责产生这些不同命运的机制，如何 引发的不对称仍然是一个中心问题。我提议 在一个简单的模型系统--革兰氏阳性中研究这个问题 枯草芽孢杆菌经历一种不对称的 组织。参与这一过程的几个调节分子成为 定位于分离两个细胞的分裂细菌中的一个位置 注定要成为子代细胞的隔室。这些模式 本地化暗示不对称可能源于特定的 调控蛋白在这一部位相对于 两个子细胞。我提出了一种新的方法来确定这一点 利用报告蛋白与定位蛋白的融合进行定位 调节蛋白与荧光法测定报告活性 显微镜。对调控蛋白空间定位的认识 可能会导致-进一步了解细胞如何病理 分化发生了。

During cellular differentiation, daughter cells can have different fates. These fates may reflect the development of an organism, or they can be a manifestation of a pathology such as tumorigenesis. While significant progress has been made in understanding the regulatory mechanisms responsible for generating these different fates, how the asymmetry is initiated remains a central issue. I propose to investigate this question in a simple model system, the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis that undergoes a form of asymmetric division. Several regulatory molecules involved in this process become localized to a site in the dividing bacteria separating the two cellular compartments destined to become the daughter cells. These patterns of localization suggest that asymmetry may derive from the particular orientation of the regulatory proteins at this site with respect to the two daughter cells. I propose a novel methodology to determine this orientation employing fusions of reporter proteins with a localized regulatory protein and assays of reporter activity using fluorescent microscopy. Knowledge of the spatial orientation of regulatory proteins may lead to-further understanding of how pathological cellular differentiation occurs.