Yeast prions function

A third yeast prion, PIN, is similar in some respects, but its non-prion domain—in this case, the N-terminal part of the molecule—has no established cellular function. The protein Rnqlp is a gain-of-function prion whose activity is expressed via its ability to induce [PS/]. [PIN] forms much more readily than the other two prions, and [PIN] cells induce [PSI] under... 

Bousset, L., Belrhali, H., Melki, R., and Morera, S. (2001b). Crystal structures of the yeast prion Ure2p functional region in complex with glutathione and related compounds. Biochemistry 40, 13564-13573. 

While not all the functions of the verified and putative yeast prions have been established, nevertheless it is already evident that fungal prion proteins are involved in the functioning and/or regulation of several different cellular processes. In particular, a number play important roles in gene regulation, either at the... 

The salient features that have emerged from a comparison of yeast PrD sequences have been used to predict new yeast prions based solely on the analysis of protein sequence [26, 28, 29, 33]. In some other cases, e.g. Newl [52, 108], although a PrD sequence has been identified in a protein and shown to function as such when linked to the Sup35 C terminus, the full-length protein has yet to be shown to have prion-like properties. It is therefore critical - as shown by Alberti et al. [26] - that predicted prions are verified by a variety of biochemical and genetic experiments. 

THE YEAST PRION [PSI+] MOLECULAR INSIGHTS AND FUNCTIONAL CONSEQUENCES... 

This chapter focuses on recent advances in our understanding of the molecular processes underlying the inheritance and functional consequences of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae prion P.SY+. An expanded discussion of the history of PSI+ including a summary of evidence supporting its classification as a yeast prion can be found in Volume 57 of Advances in Protein Chemistry (Serio and Lindquist, 2001). 

Examples of functional links are given for a protein family of previously unknown function, a protein whose human homologs is implicated in colon cancer and the yeast prion Sup35.f ... 

Kushnirov VV, Kryndushkin DS, Boguta M, Smirnov VN, Ter-Avanesyan MD (2000) Chaperones that cure yeast artificial [PSI-h] and their prion-specific effects. Curr Biol 10 1443-1446 Lai C-H, Chun HH, N as SA, Mitui M, Gamo KM, Du L, Gatti RA (2004) Correction of ATM gene function by aminoglycoside-induced read-through of premature termination codons. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101 15676-15681... 

Functional prions Yeast and fungual prions Sup35,URE2p RnqlP, HET-s Functional... 

Further evidence for the phenomenon of self-propagating protein conformers was provided by the discovery of proteins with prion-like properties in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae [41]. The chapter by Mick Tuite [165, 166] in this book will provide a detailed review about fungal prions and their cellular functions. In addition, it has been reported that the translation regulator CPEB from Aplysia can act as a self-sustaining prion-like protein in the nervous system [42—44]. 

Urakov VN, Vishnevskaya AB, Alexandrov IM, Kushnirov VV, Smirnov VN, Ter-Avanesyan MD (2010) Interdependence of amyloid formation in yeast implications for polyglutamine disorders and biological functions. Prion 4 45-52... 

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