Publications by authors named "Amanda Bentley-DeSousa"

Lysosomes play a pivotal role in coordinating macromolecule degradation and regulating cell growth and metabolism. Despite substantial progress in identifying lysosomal signaling proteins, understanding the pathways that synchronize lysosome functions with changing cellular demands remains incomplete. This study uncovers a role for TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1), well known for its role in innate immunity and organelle quality control, in modulating lysosomal responsiveness to nutrients.

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Article Synopsis
  • Scientists think that problems with tiny parts of our cells called lysosomes can cause Parkinson's disease (PD).
  • A special protein called VPS13C moves to the surface of damaged lysosomes quickly and helps connect them to another part of the cell called the ER.
  • This process is different from another PD protein, LRRK2, which shows up later and works in a different way when the lysosomes are stressed.
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Lysosomes play a pivotal role in coordinating macromolecule degradation and regulating cell growth and metabolism. Despite substantial progress in identifying lysosomal signaling proteins, understanding the pathways that synchronize lysosome functions with changing cellular demands remains incomplete. This study uncovers a role for TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1), well known for its role in innate immunity and organelle quality control, in modulating lysosomal responsiveness to nutrients.

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Polyphosphates (polyP) are energy-rich polymers of inorganic phosphates assembled into chains ranging from 3 residues to thousands of residues in length. They are thought to exist in all cells on earth and play roles in an eclectic mix of functions ranging from phosphate homeostasis to cell signaling, infection control, and blood clotting. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, polyP chains are synthesized by the vacuole-bound vacuolar transporter chaperone (VTC) complex, which synthesizes polyP while simultaneously translocating it into the vacuole lumen, where it is stored at high concentrations.

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Polyphosphates (polyP) are long chains of inorganic phosphates that can be attached to lysine residues of target proteins as a nonenzymatic post-translational modification. This modification, termed polyphosphorylation, may be particularly prevalent in bacterial and fungal species that synthesize large quantities of polyP. In this study, we evaluated the polyphosphorylation status of over 200 candidate targets in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

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Polyphosphorylation is a newly described non-enzymatic post-translational modification wherein long chains of inorganic phosphates are attached to lysine residues. The first targets of polyphosphorylation identified were S. cerevisiae proteins Nsr1 and Top1.

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Polyphosphates (polyP) are chains of inorganic phosphates found in all cells. Previous work has implicated these chains in diverse functions, but the mechanism of action is unclear. A recent study reports that polyP can be non-enzymatically and covalently attached to lysine residues on yeast proteins Nsr1 and Top1.

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Nicotinamide is both a reaction product and an inhibitor of the conserved sirtuin family of deacetylases, which have been implicated in a broad range of cellular functions in eukaryotes from yeast to humans. Phenotypes observed following treatment with nicotinamide are most often assumed to stem from inhibition of one or more of these enzymes. Here, we used this small molecule to inhibit multiple sirtuins at once during treatment with DNA damaging agents in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae model system.

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