Molecular control of non-histone protein acetylation in budding yeast

管理细胞工厂：如果我们把构成我们身体的细胞想象成一个小工厂，细胞中的蛋白质就是工人。我们每个人的每个细胞中都有数千个这样的工作蛋白。正如你所想象的，事情变得非常拥挤，需要组织来确保事情顺利进行。为此，一些被称为酶的特殊蛋白质充当细胞的管理者。它们用化学信号向工蚁蛋白传递指令。这些指示决定了要完成哪些工作。我的实验室研究两种类型的酶“管理器”，分别是KATs和kdac。它们在细胞中调节一组被称为乙酰化的指令。乙酰化是一种化学修饰，由KATs置于蛋白质上，由kdac去除。我们已经发现的证据表明，乙酰化是一套常见的指令，传递给细胞周围的许多蛋白质。这项研究计划的长期目标是通过确定KAT和KDAC酶如何知道哪些蛋白质与乙酰化“指令”接触来推进知识。在我们的短期目标中，我们将研究一位前硕士学生提出的一个新想法，即特定的KAT和KDAC酶共同作用来调节相同蛋白质的乙酰化。我们可以把它看作是来自不同部门的经理在同一个项目上的合作。我们将使用一系列先进的技术来研究这一假设，包括一种叫做质谱仪的仪器，它可以让我们识别单个蛋白质的乙酰化。该项目是基于我们之前的NSERC资助完成的工作，将使用简单的面包酵母酿酒酵母，它是真核（高级）细胞的优秀模型。但是，酵母很容易在实验室中进行修改，这将加快项目目标的完成。这项工作将由我的硕士学生，一个博士培养的博士后，以及大约十名本科生来完成。学生将接受工业和学术界所需技术方面的专家培训。他们还将接受沟通、平等、多样化和包容方面的培训。最后，他们将在社区内开展外展活动。这项工作的成果是关于发生在不同类型细胞中的基本过程的新知识。由于这项工作是在酵母中进行的，因此在生物技术工业中也有应用，包括在酿酒和生产替代燃料中使用酵母。因此，我们的项目对加拿大具有巨大的价值。

Managing Cellular Factories: If we think of our cells that make up our bodies as small factories, the proteins in the cell are the workers. Each of us has thousands of these worker proteins in each cell. As you might imagine, things get pretty crowded and organization is needed to make sure things run smoothly. To this end, some specialized proteins called enzymes act as the managers of the cell. They communicate instructions to worker proteins using chemical signals. These instructions determine what jobs get done. My lab works on two types of enzyme "managers", called KATs and KDACs. These regulate a set of instructions in the cell called acetylation. Acetylation is a chemical modification that is placed onto proteins by KATs and removed by KDACs. We have uncovered evidence that acetylation is a common set of instructions handed out to many proteins around the cell. The long-term goal of this research program is to advance knowledge by determining how KAT and KDAC enzymes know which proteins to contact with acetylation `instructions'. In our short term aims, we will investigate a novel idea put forth by a former MSc student, that specific KAT and KDAC enzymes work together to regulate the acetylation of the same proteins. We can think of this as managers from different departments collaborating on the same project. We will investigate this hypothesis using a collection of advanced techniques including an instrument called a mass spectrometer that allows us to identify acetylations on individual proteins. The program, which is based on work completed with our previous NSERC funding, will use the simple baker's yeast S. cerevisiae, which serves as an excellent model of a eukaryotic (advanced) cell. But, yeast is easily amendable to work in the lab, which will speed completion of the project aims. The work will be carried out by my MSc student, a PhD-trained post-doctoral fellow, and approximately ten undergraduate students. The students will receive expert training in technologies that are in demand in industry and academia. They will also receive training in communications, and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Finally, they will conduct outreach within the community. The output of the work is new knowledge about fundamental processes that occur in different types of cells. Since the work is in yeast, there are also applications in the biotechnology industry including the use of yeast in wine making and the production of alternative fuels. As such our program is of tremendous value to Canada.