Heterologous expression of the Crassostrea gigas (Pacific oyster) alternative oxidase in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
2016
Alternative oxidase(AOX) is a terminal oxidase within the
inner mitochondrial membrane(IMM) present in many organisms where it functions in the electron transport system (ETS). AOX directly accepts electrons from
ubiquinoland is therefore capable of bypassing ETS Complexes III and IV. The human genome does not contain a gene coding for AOX, so AOX expression has been suggested as a gene therapy for a range of human
mitochondrial diseasescaused by genetic mutations that render Complex III and/or IV dysfunctional. An effective means of screening mutations amenable to AOX treatment remains to be devised. We have generated such a tool by
heterologously expressingAOX from the
Pacific oyster(
Crassostrea
gigas) in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the control of a galactose promoter. Our results show that this animal AOX is monomeric and is correctly targeted to yeast mitochondria. Moreover, when expressed in yeast,
Pacific oysterAOX is a functional quinol oxidase, conferring cyanide-resistant growth and
myxothiazol-resistant oxygen consumption to yeast cells and isolated mitochondria. This system represents a high-throughput screening tool for determining which Complex III and IV genetic mutations in yeast will be amenable to AOX gene therapy. As many human genes are orthologous to those found in yeast, our invention represents an efficient and cost-effective way to evaluate viable research avenues. In addition, this system provides the opportunity to learn more about the localization, structure, and regulation of AOXs from animals that are not easily reared or manipulated in the lab.
Keywords:
-
Correction
-
Source
-
Cite
-
Save
41
References
13
Citations
NaN
KQI