Evaluating the HSC82 Promoter for Cellular Stress Monitoring in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a versatile organism widely used in medical and research applications, but it faces cellular stress when used to produce high level foreign proteins. In this study, we constructed a tool to monitor cellular stress in yeast by cloning the LacZ gene encoding the β galactosidase under the control of the heat shock promoter HSC82. Experiments were then carried out evaluating the response of the promoter to heat shock at varying temperatures (37°C and 42°C) and also evaluating promoter responses to stress induced by protein misfolding using the arginine analogue canavanine. The data illustrate that the HSC82 promoter responded to heat shock, with the highest induction at 37°C (~1.8-fold) compared to the control at 25°C. At 42°C, activity decreased compared to 25°C.In contrast, the HSC82 promoter did not respond to canavanine but a small but statistically significant decrease was observed. These results confirm that the HSC82 promoter is a reliable tool for monitoring heat stress in yeast, but it is not sensitive to other types of stress, requiring additional research for promoters who are more sensitive to protein misfolding, such as HSP82.