The Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Yeast and Fungal Cells

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 1384

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara 630-0192, Japan
Interests: cell biology; cell signaling; stress response; fermentation; microbiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a membrane-surrounded cellular compartment in which secretory proteins are folded and modified before being transported to the cell surface. In addition, many lipidic molecules are biosynthesized on the ER membrane. The dysfunction or functional shortage of the ER, namely, ER stress, is accompanied by ER accumulation of unfolded proteins, which triggers a cytoprotective response called the unfolded protein response (UPR), commonly observed in eukaryotic cells. Although key players in the intracellular signaling pathway of the UPR, such as Ire1 and Hac1, have been identified through frontier studies using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism in the 1990s, intriguing new insights concerning the regulation of these UPR mediator are ongoingly reported. Another recent topic is the diversity of UPR signaling in yeast and fungal species, which means, for instance, that these UPR mediators do not exhibit the same function in different species. The relationship between virulence and UPR in pathogenic yeasts or fungi is also an important topic, as protein secretion is upregulated upon infection, leading to the induction of UPR. The ER is enforced and enlarged by the UPR. Therefore, it may also be possible to increase the industrial productivity of secretory proteins and/or lipidic molecules from yeasts and/or fungi through the artificial upregulation of the UPR.

This Special Issue focuses on current topics related to ER stress and UPR in yeasts and fungi from a wide range of viewpoints, including basic molecular biology, clinical science, and applicative technology. By gathering up-to-date insights from various research fields, I believe that we can illustrate the novel aspects of this intriguing theme.

Dr. Yukio Kimata
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • unfolded protein response
  • yeast
  • fungi
  • endoplasmic reticulum
  • protein production

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 2484 KiB  
Article
TIM8 Deficiency in Yeast Induces Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Shortens the Chronological Lifespan
by Dong Tang, Wenbin Guan, Xiaodi Yang, Zhongqin Li, Wei Zhao and Xinguang Liu
Biomolecules 2025, 15(2), 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15020271 - 12 Feb 2025
Viewed by 870
Abstract
Yeast TIM8 was initially identified as a homolog of human TIMM8A/DDP1, which is associated with human deafness–dystonia syndrome. Tim8p is located in the mitochondrial intermembrane space and forms a hetero-oligomeric complex with Tim13p to facilitate protein transport through the TIM22 translocation system. Previous [...] Read more.
Yeast TIM8 was initially identified as a homolog of human TIMM8A/DDP1, which is associated with human deafness–dystonia syndrome. Tim8p is located in the mitochondrial intermembrane space and forms a hetero-oligomeric complex with Tim13p to facilitate protein transport through the TIM22 translocation system. Previous research has indicated that TIM8 is not essential for yeast survival but does affect the import of Tim23p in the absence of the Tim8-Tim13 complex. Previous research on TIM8 has focused mainly on its involvement in the mitochondrial protein transport pathway, and the precise biological function of TIM8 remains incompletely understood. In this study, we provide the first report that yeast TIM8 is associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response and chronological senescence. We found that deletion of TIM8 leads to both oxidative stress and ER stress in yeast cells while increasing resistance to the ER stress inducer tunicamycin (TM), which is accompanied by an enhanced basic unfolded protein response (UPR). More importantly, TIM8 deficiency can lead to a shortened chronological lifespan (CLS) but does not affect the replicative lifespan (RLS). Moreover, we found that improving the antioxidant capacity further increased TM resistance in the tim8Δ strain. Importantly, we provide evidence that the knockdown of TIMM8A in ARPE-19 human retinal pigment epithelium cells can also induce ER stress, suggesting the potential function of the TIM8 gene in ER stress is conserved from budding yeast to higher eukaryotes. In summary, these results suggest novel roles for TIM8 in maintaining ER homeostasis and CLS maintenance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Yeast and Fungal Cells)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop