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Filamentous Cells in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Are Resistant to Programmed Cell Death
Author(s) -
Cao Yi,
Austriaco Nicanor
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.943.1
Subject(s) - filamentation , saccharomyces cerevisiae , programmed cell death , apoptosis , yeast , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , cell type , cell culture , genetics , laser , physics , optics
Apoptosis is a type of programmed cell death that often occurs when cells are exposed to stressful conditions. The budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, undergoes apoptosis when cultured in particular environmental stimuli including acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and ethanol. Just as the human body consists of several cell types, from muscle cells to liver cells, the yeast S. cerevisiae also occurs in several cell types including the haploid a and α cells, the diploid a/α cells, and the pseudohyphal invasive cells. We are using a wild type strain from the ∑1278b strain background that is capable of undergoing the dimorphic shift to determine if different yeast cell types respond to ethanol‐induced apoptosis in similar or different ways. Our data suggests that filamentation, in both haploid and diploid cells, increases a cell's resistance to programmed cell death in 22% ethanol media. However, our experiments suggest that this resistance cannot be completely attributed to differences in cell type because mutants lacking genes necessary for filamentation, such as RAS2, STE12, and TEC1, still exhibit a resistance to apoptosis similar to that found in wildtype pseudohyphal cells. Experiments to identify the genetic pathways involved in this filamentation‐associated resistance to programmed cell death are in progress. [Supported by NIGMS R15 GM094712 , NSF MRI‐R2 0959354, and NIH 2 P20 RR016457 ]