PROPIONATE CATABOLISM AND METABOLIC PATHWAY INTEGRATION

描述：(改编自调查人员摘要)：一个重要的和 在生物学中很大程度上没有答案的问题是细胞如何整合大的 组成其中间代谢的代谢途径的数量。这个 近年来开发的丰富的基因组信息和新技术 让研究人员能够接触到这一令人兴奋的新陈代谢领域。 在过去的四年里，PI实验室的工作发现了一条途径 以前被认为是真核生物独有的丙酸分解代谢。 肠道和其他原核生物。尽管已经取得了实质性的进展 为了更好地理解这一途径的生物化学，我们的 知识留了下来。编码基因表达调控的研究 丙酸降解酶确定了这一途径与 1，2-丙二醇的降解途径。性格特点很好的 肠杆菌的遗传系统提供了一个剖析 这两条途径代谢整合的分子细节。利息 在了解更多关于代谢途径整合的例子中 由于肠链球菌(Cobb)的一种蛋白的参与而增加，对于该蛋白， 是细菌、古生物和真核生物(包括人类)中的同源同源物。在……里面 真核生物，Cobb同源基因组成Sir2调节蛋白家族 参与复杂的基因拼接过程。一直以来 证明人类Sir2蛋白可以弥补缺乏 细胞生长过程中的Cobb蛋白。柯布函数的研究 提供了一个了解代谢整合和 确保细胞正常功能的其他策略。

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Investigator's abstract): An important and largely unanswered question in biology is how the cell integrates the large number of metabolic pathways that comprise its intermediary metabolism. The wealth of genomic information and new technologies developed in recent years make this exciting area of metabolism accessible to researchers. In the last four years, work in the PI's laboratory uncovered a pathway previously thought to be unique to eucaryotes for propionate catabolism in S. enterica and other procaryotes. Although substantial progress has been made toward a better understanding of the biochemistry of this pathway, gaps in our knowledge remain. Studies of regulation of expression of the genes encoding propionate-degrading enzymes identified an interaction between this pathway and the pathway for the degradation of 1,2-propanediol. The well-characterized genetic system of S. enterica offers a unique opportunity to dissect the molecular details of the metabolic integration of these two pathways. Interest in learning more about this example of metabolic pathway integration was increased by the involvement of a protein of S. enterica (CobB) for which there are orthologues in bacteria, archaea, and eucaryotes, including humans. In eucaryotes, CobB orthologues comprise the family of SIR2 regulatory proteins that are involved in the complex process of gene splicing. It has been demonstrated that the human SIR2 protein can compensate for the lack of the CobB protein during cell growth on propionate. The study of CobB function presents a worthwhile opportunity to learn about metabolic integration and other strategies that ensure proper cell function.