A functional screen for copper homeostasis genes identifies a pharmacologically tractable cellular system.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Copper is essential for the survival of aerobic organisms. If copper is not properly regulated in the body however, it can be extremely cytotoxic and genetic mutations that compromise copper homeostasis result in severe clinical phenotypes. Understanding how cells maintain optimal copper levels is therefore highly relevant to human health.

Results

We found that addition of copper (Cu) to culture medium leads to increased respiratory growth of yeast, a phenotype which we then systematically and quantitatively measured in 5050 homozygous diploid deletion strains. Cu's positive effect on respiratory growth was quantitatively reduced in deletion strains representing 73 different genes, the function of which identify increased iron uptake as a cause of the increase in

SUBMITTER: Schlecht U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4023593 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature