The regulatory proteins of peroxisomes biogenesis and inheritance

Abstract

Abstract In eukaryotic cells there are various membrane surrounded structures called organelles. These organelles have different functions in order to maintain the metabolism of the cell. Therefore, molecular mechanisms have been evolved by the cells to maintain these organelles during the cell cycle. One of the organisms that has been studied comprehensively, especially in the organelle biogenesis and inheritance field, is the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Multiple factors have been identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as having different functions in organelle biogenesis and inheritance (e.g. Pex3, Pex19 and Inp1).

Here we have studied the effect of Inp1 overexpression, a peroxisome retention factor, on peroxisome biogenesis and inheritance. We showed that the peroxisomal membrane marker Pex11-GFP changed from a punctate pattern to a faint tubular pattern, thereby indicating that peroxisome biogenesis is affected upon Inp1 overexpression. We also analysed the effect of an overexpression library for kinases, phosphatases and ubiquitin ligases on the distribution of peroxisomes throughout the cell division cycle. Overexpression of a variety of factors was found to affect peroxisome partitioning during cell division, with these factors showing variable levels of severity.

Collectively, these initial findings indicate that an overexpression library can be used for unravelling the mechanism of peroxisome inheritance. In addition, that overexpression of Inp1 can be used as a tool to study peroxisome biogenesis.