Decoding the Yeast Stress Adaptation Circuit

Decoding the Yeast Stress Adaptation Circuit Public Deposited

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English, Justin Gregory
- Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology

Abstract

Cells must adapt to survive. To mount an appropriate adaptive response the cell must relay information from its surroundings to its adaptive machinery. This process, termed information transmission, is a universal property of biology. Determining how this information is transmitted, amplified, and interpreted throughout the cell is of paramount importance. By establishing how information is transmitted in biological systems we can identify new routes for intervention in disease progression. To this end, this thesis aims to resolve the information transmission mechanisms associated with the oft studied stress adaptation circuit of the yeast S. cerevisiae. The work herein considers two distinct properties of this stress circuit. First, a determination of the methods and mechanisms by which environmental information is conveyed. Second, an assessment of the consequences of this information on the reprogramming of cellular metabolism and protein expression. Combined, these two investigations uncover how yeast have engineered a dynamic system for responding to a broad range of cellular stress conditions.

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