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Yeast and other lower eukaryotic organisms for studies of Vps13 proteins in health and disease
Author(s) -
Rzepnikowska Weronika,
Flis Krzysztof,
MuñozBraceras Sandra,
Menezes Regina,
Escalante Ricardo,
Zoladek Teresa
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
traffic
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.677
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1600-0854
pISSN - 1398-9219
DOI - 10.1111/tra.12523
Subject(s) - biology , proteostasis , microbiology and biotechnology , dictyostelium discoideum , saccharomyces cerevisiae , model organism , autophagy , drosophila melanogaster , yeast , multicellular organism , genetics , cell , gene , apoptosis
Human Vps13 proteins are associated with several diseases, including the neurodegenerative disorder Chorea‐acanthocytosis ( ChAc ), yet the biology of these proteins is still poorly understood. Studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Dictyostelium discoideum , Tetrahymena thermophila and Drosophila melanogaster point to the involvement of Vps13 in cytoskeleton organization, vesicular trafficking, autophagy, phagocytosis, endocytosis, proteostasis, sporulation and mitochondrial functioning. Recent findings show that yeast Vps13 binds to phosphatidylinositol lipids via 4 different regions and functions at membrane contact sites, enlarging the list of Vps13 functions. This review describes the great potential of simple eukaryotes to decipher disease mechanisms in higher organisms and highlights novel insights into the pathological role of Vps13 towards ChAc .