Browsing by Author "Kaya, Alaattin"

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Citation - WoS: 48
Citation - Scopus: 52
Boron Stress Activates the General Amino Acid Control Mechanism and Inhibits Protein Synthesis
(Public Library of Science, 2011-11) Uluışık, İrem; Kaya, Alaattin; Fomenko, Dmitri E.; Karakaya, Hüseyin Çağlar; Carlson, Bradley A.; Gladyshev, Vadim N.; Koç, Ahmet
Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants, and it is beneficial for animals. However, at high concentrations boron is toxic to cells although the mechanism of this toxicity is not known. Atr1 has recently been identified as a boron efflux pump whose expression is upregulated in response to boron treatment. Here, we found that the expression of ATR1 is associated with expression of genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis. These mechanisms are strictly controlled by the transcription factor Gcn4 in response to boron treatment. Further analyses have shown that boron impaired protein synthesis by promoting phosphorylation of eIF2α in a Gcn2 kinase dependent manner. The uncharged tRNA binding domain (HisRS) of Gcn2 is necessary for the phosphorylation of eIF2α in the presence of boron. We postulate that boron exerts its toxic effect through activation of the general amino acid control system and inhibition of protein synthesis. Since the general amino acid control pathway is conserved among eukaryotes, this mechanism of boron toxicity may be of general importance.
Citation - WoS: 5
Citation - Scopus: 4
Characterization of a Cdna From Beta Maritima That Confers Nickel Tolerance in Yeast
(Elsevier Ltd., 2014-04) Bozdağ, Gönensin Ozan; Kaya, Alaattin; Koç, Ahmet; Noll, Gundula A.; Prüfer, Dirk; Karakaya, Hüseyin Çağlar
Nickel is an essential micronutrient due to its involvement in many enzymatic reactions as a cofactor. However, excess of this element is toxic to biological systems. Here, we constructed a cDNA library from Beta maritima and screened it in the yeast system to identify genes that confer resistance to toxic levels of nickel. A cDNA clone (NIC6), which encodes for a putative membrane protein with unknown function, was found to help yeast cells to tolerate toxic levels of nickel. A GFP fused form of Nic6 protein was localized to multivesicular structures in tobacco epidermal cells. Thus, our results suggest a possible role of Nic6 in nickel and intracellular ion homeostasis.
Citation - WoS: 30
Citation - Scopus: 32
Compartmentalization and Regulation of Mitochondrial Function by Methionine Sulfoxide Reductases in Yeast
(American Chemical Society, 2010-10) Kaya, Alaattin; Koç, Ahmet; Lee, Byung Cheon; Fomenko, Dmitri E.; Rederstorff, Mathieu; Krol, Alain; Lescure, Alain; Gladyshev, Vadim N.
Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species can damage proteins. Sulfur-containing amino acid residues, cysteine and methionine, are particularly susceptible to such damage. Various enzymes evolved to protect proteins or repair oxidized residues, including methionine sulfoxide reductases MsrA and MsrB, which reduce methionine (S)-sulfoxide (Met-SO) and methionine (R)-sulfoxide (Met-RO) residues, respectively, back to methionine. Here, we show that MsrA and MsrB are involved in the regulation of mitochondrial function. Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant cells lacking MsrA, MsrB, or both proteins had normal levels of mitochondria but lower levels of cytochrome c and fewer respiration-competent mitochondria. The growth of single MsrA or MsrB mutants on respiratory carbon sources was inhibited, and that of the double mutant was severely compromised, indicating impairment of mitochondrial function. Although MsrA and MsrB are thought to have similar roles in oxidative protein repair each targeting a diastereomer of methionine sulfoxide, their deletion resulted in different phenotypes. GFP fusions of MsrA and MsrB showed different localization patterns and primarily localized to cytoplasm and mitochondria, respectively. This finding agreed with compartment-specific enrichment of MsrA and MsrB activities. These results show that oxidative stress contributes to mitochondrial dysfunction through oxidation of methionine residues in proteins located in different cellular compartments. © 2010 American Chemical Society.
Citation - WoS: 73
Citation - Scopus: 78
Functional Analysis of Free Methionine-R Reductase From Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
(American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2009-02) Le, Dung Tien; Lee, Byung Cheon; Marino, Stefano M.; Zhang, Yan; Fomenko, Dmitri E.; Kaya, Alaattin; Hacıoğlu, Elise; Kwak, Geun-Hee; Koç, Ahmet; Kim, Hwa-Young; Gladyshev, Vadim N.
Methionine sulfoxide reductases (Msrs) are oxidoreductases that catalyze thiol-dependent reduction of oxidized methionines. MsrA and MsrB are the best known Msrs that repair methionine S-sulfoxide (Met-S-SO) and methionine-R-sulfoxide (Met-R-SO) residues in proteins, respectively. In addition, an Escherichia coli enzyme specific for free Met-R-SO, designated fRMsr, was recently discovered. In this work, we carried out comparative genomic and experimental analyses to examine occurrence, evolution, and function of fRMsr. This protein is present in single copies and two mutually exclusive subtypes in about half of prokaryotes and unicellular eukaryotes but is missing in higher plants and animals. A Saccharomyces cerevisiae fRMsr homolog was found to reduce free Met-R-SO but not free Met-S-SO or dabsyl-Met-R-SO. fRMsr was responsible for growth of yeast cells on Met-R-SO, and the double fRMsr/MsrA mutant could not grow on a mixture of methionine sulfoxides. However, in the presence of methionine, even the triple fRMsr/MsrA/MsrB mutant was viable. In addition, fRMsr deletion strain showed an increased sensitivity to oxidative stress and a decreased life span, whereas overexpression of fRMsr conferred higher resistance to oxidants. Molecular modeling and cysteine residue targeting by thioredoxin pointed to Cys101 as catalytic and Cys125 as resolving residues in yeast fRMsr. These residues as well as a third Cys, resolving Cys91, clustered in the structure, and each was required for the catalytic activity of the enzyme. The data show that fRMsr is the main enzyme responsible for the reduction of free Met-R-SO in S. cerevisiae.
Citation - WoS: 19
Citation - Scopus: 19
Genome-Wide Identification of Genes That Play a Role in Boron Stress Response in Yeast
(Elsevier Ltd., 2011-02) Uluışık, İrem; Kaya, Alaattin; Ünlü, Ercan Selçuk; Avşar, Kadir; Karakaya, Hüseyin Çağlar; Yalçın, Talat; Koç, Ahmet
Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants and it is either necessary or beneficial for animals. Studies identified only few genes related to boron metabolism thus far and details of how boron is imported into cells and used in cell metabolism are largely unknown. In order to identify genes that play roles in boron metabolism, we screened the entire set of yeast haploid deletion mutants and identified 6 mutants that were resistant to toxic levels of boron, and 21 mutants that were highly sensitive to boron treatment. Furthermore, we performed a proteomic approach to identify additional proteins that are significantly up-regulated by boron treatment. Our results revealed many genes and pathways related to boron stress response and suggest a possible link between boron toxicity and translational control.
Citation - WoS: 55
Citation - Scopus: 64
Identification of a Novel System for Boron Transport: Atr1 Is a Main Boron Exporter in Yeast
(American Society for Microbiology, 2009-07) Kaya, Alaattin; Karakaya, Hüseyin Çağlar; Fomenko, Dmitri E.; Gladyshev, Vadim N.; Koç, Ahmet
Boron is a micronutrient in plants and animals, but its specific roles in cellular processes are not known. To understand boron transport and functions, we screened a yeast genomic DNA library for genes that confer resistance to the element in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Thirty boron-resistant transformants were isolated, and they all contained the ATR1 (YML116w) gene. Atr1 is a multidrug resistance transport protein belonging to the major facilitator superfamily. C-terminal green fluorescent protein-tagged Atr1 localized to the cell membrane and vacuole, and ATR1 gene expression was upregulated by boron and several stress conditions. We found that atr1△ mutants were highly sensitive to boron treatment, whereas cells overexpressing ATR1 were boron resistant. In addition, atr1△ cells accumulated boron, whereas ATR1-overexpressing cells had low intracellular levels of the element. Furthermore, atr1△ cells showed stronger boron-dependent phenotypes than mutants deficient in genes previously reported to be implicated in boron metabolism. ATR1 is widely distributed in bacteria, archaea, and lower eukaryotes. Our data suggest that Atr1 functions as a boron efflux pump and is required for boron tolerance.
Identification of Genes That Play Roles in Boron Metabolism/
(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2008) Kaya, Alaattin; Koç, Ahmet
Boron, is an essential microelement that plays a role in plant and animal development. However, an excess amount of boron is toxic for both types of organisms.The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an ideal model organism for describing the mechanism and regulation of metal ion transport in eukaryotes. We screened a yeast genomic DNA library to find genes that confer boron resistance to wild-type cells.Thirty transformants were isolated that were able to grow in the presence of a toxic amount of boron and all of them contained the multidrug efflux transporter gene ATR1 (YML116w) in the expression cassette. Our subsequent analysis revealed that ATR1 deletion mutants (.atr1) were sensitive to boron treatment and hyper-accumulated boron inside cells, whereas wild-type cells overexpressing the ATR1 gene were resistant to boron and hypoaccumulated boron in cells. We also analysed the global gene expression pattern in response to boron treatment and found that expression of ATR1 is upregulated along with many other transporter and amino acid biosynthesis genes. Our data suggest that the ATR1 gene functions as a boron efflux pump and is reqired for boron tolerance in yeast cells.
Citation - WoS: 11
Citation - Scopus: 14
Proteomic Changes During Boron Tolerance in Barley (hordeum Vulgare) and the Role of Vacuolar Proton-Translocating Atpase Subunit E
(Türkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences, 2011) Atik, Ahmet Emin; Bozdağ, Gönensin Ozan; Akıncı, Ersin; Kaya, Alaattin; Koç, Ahmet; Yalçın, Talat; Karakaya, Hüseyin Çağlar
Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants and animals; however, it can be toxic when present at high concentrations. The purpose of this study was to understand the mechanisms of boron tolerance in the Turkish barley (Hordeum vulgare) Anadolu cultivar. For this purpose, 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) was used to screen differentially expressed proteins for both control and boron-stressed Anadolu barley genotypes. Seven proteins were revealed by 2-DE: 1) ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo large chain), 2) TLP5, a thaumatin-like protein, 3) PR5, a basic pathogenesis-related protein, 4) a RNase S-like protein, 5) a PSI type III chlorophyll a/b-binding protein, 6) a light-harvesting complex I LHC I, and 7) the vacuolar proton-translocating ATPase subunit E protein. These were found to be upregulated in response to boron treatment. Even though the protein encoded by the V-ATPase subunit E gene was overexpressed, its transcript level was downregulated by boron treatment. Heterologous expression of the barley V-ATPase subunit E gene in yeast provided boron resistance to yeast cells. These results indicated that the V-ATPase subunit E gene was functional and conferred tolerance to toxic boron levels in yeast and might play a role in the overall boron tolerance of barley. © TÜBITAK.
Citation - WoS: 9
Citation - Scopus: 10
Thiol Peroxidase Deficiency Leads To Increased Mutational Load and Decreased Fitness in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
(Genetics Society of America, 2014-11) Kaya, Alaattin; Lobanov, Alexey V.; Gerashchenko, Maxim V.; Koren, Amnon; Fomenko, Dmitri E.; Koç, Ahmet; Gladyshev, Vadim N.
Thiol peroxidases are critical enzymes in the redox control of cellular processes that function by reducing low levels of hydroperoxides and regulating redox signaling. These proteins were also shown to regulate genome stability, but how their dysfunction affects the actual mutations in the genome is not known. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has eight thiol peroxidases of glutathione peroxidase and peroxiredoxin families, and the mutant lacking all these genes (Δ8) is viable. In this study, we employed two independent Δ8 isolates to analyze the genome-wide mutation spectrum that results from deficiency in these enzymes. Deletion of these genes was accompanied by a dramatic increase in point mutations, many of which clustered in close proximity and scattered throughout the genome, suggesting strong mutational bias. We further subjected multiple lines of wild-type and Δ8 cells to long-term mutation accumulation, followed by genome sequencing and phenotypic characterization. Δ8 lines showed a significant increase in nonrecurrent point mutations and indels. The original Δ8 cells exhibited reduced growth rate and decreased life span, which were further reduced in all Δ8 mutation accumulation lines. Although the mutation spectrum of the two independent isolates was different, similar patterns of gene expression were observed, suggesting the direct contribution of thiol peroxidases to the observed phenotypes. Expression of a single thiol peroxidase could partially restore the growth phenotype of Δ8 cells. This study shows how deficiency in nonessential, yet critical and conserved oxidoreductase function, leads to increased mutational load and decreased fitness.