Elucidating the biology of yeast in its full complexity has major implications for science, medicine and industry. One of the most critical processes determining yeast life and physiology is cel-lular demise. However, the investigation of yeast cell death is a relatively young field, and a widely accepted set of concepts and terms is still missing. Here, we propose unified criteria for the defi-nition of accide...
[Excerpt] Similarly to metazoans, yeast cells can exhibit several characteristics of apoptosis, including chromatin condensation, DNA breakage, flipping of phosphatidylserine to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane, accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and release of pro-death factors such as cytochrome c or Endonuclease G from mitochondria. Yeast programed cell death has been shown to occur in re...
Background: Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the presence of cytoplasmic inclusions, known as Lewy bodies, containing both aggregated α-synuclein and its interaction partner, synphilin-1. While synphilin-1 is known to accelerate inclusion formation by α-synuclein in mammalian cells, its effect on cytotoxicity remains elusive. Methodology/Principal Findings: We expressed wild-type synphilin-1 or its R621C...
Although acetic acid has been shown to induce apoptosis in yeast, the exact apoptotic mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we studied the effects of acetic acid treatment on yeast cells by 2-DE, revealing alterations in the levels of proteins directly or indirectly linked with the target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway: amino-acid biosynthesis, transcription/translation machinery, carbohydrate metabolism, nucleotide bio...
While yeast apoptosis was still a controversial issue less than 10 years ago, the efforts of many groups have revealed cell death mechanisms that resemble, in many aspects, those described for mammalian apoptosis. Here, we provide an overview of new insights on yeast apoptosis and the link with lifespan of yeast cells, based on data presented at the 6th International Meeting of Yeast Apoptosis (IMYA). Together,...
Nitric oxide (NO) is a small molecule with distinct roles in diverse physiological functions in biological systems, among them the control of the apoptotic signalling cascade. By combining proteomic, genetic and biochemical approaches we demonstrate that NO and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) are crucial mediators of yeast apoptosis. Using indirect methodologies and a NO-selective electrode, we...
Yeasts as eukaryotic microorganisms with simple, well known and tractable genetics, have long been powerful model systems for studying complex biological phenomena such as the cell cycle or vesicle fusion. Until recently, yeast has been assumed as a cellular ‘clean room’ to study the interactions and the mechanisms of action of mammalian apoptotic regulators. However, the finding of an endogenous programmed cel...
Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), a key regulator of cell death, is essential for normal mammalian development and participates in pathological apoptosis. The proapoptotic nature of AIF and its mode of action are controversial. Here, we show that the yeast AIF homologue Ynr074cp controls yeast apoptosis. Similar to mammalian AIF, Ynr074cp is located in mitochondria and translocates to the nucleus of yeast cells ...