Research in the CJN lab is supported by operating grants from NSERC, the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (CCSRI), and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (BC-Yukon Branch).

NOTE: The general workflow of this procedure is outlined in Figure 2.
1. Determination of Growth-inhibitory Dose
<ol>
	<li>Preparation of yeast overnight culture 
	NOTE: The yeast-extract-peptone-dextrose growth media (YEPD) used in this protocol is a standard recipe13.
	<ol>
		<li>Streak out BY4741 (MATahis3&#916;1 leu2&#916;0 met15&#916;0 ura3&#916;0) cells on a YEPD agar plate and incubate for 48 hr at 30&#160;&#176;C&#160;or until visible colonies form.</li>
		<li>Prepare overnight cultures by inoculating 5 ml of YEPD liquid media in a sterile culture vessel with a single colony. Incubate overnight at 30&#160;&#176;C with continuous rotation or shaking. The culture will typically reach saturation by the morning (~2 &#215; 108 cells/ml).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Solid agar media preparation containing varying chemical doses
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare several stocks of the chemical to be tested at 100x&#160;desired final concentration in an appropriate solvent. 
		NOTE: Effective concentrations will depend on the chemical, and must be determined empirically. It is therefore advisable to initially test a broad final concentration range; i.e., from low &#181;M to high mM.</li>
		<li>For each concentration of chemical to be tested, aliquot 3 ml of molten YEPD agar to a several sterile culture tube. Place in 55 &#176;C water bath to keep from solidifying.</li>
		<li>For each concentration of chemical to be tested add 30 &#181;l of the 100x compound to molten media, vortex 2-3 sec to mix, and pipette 1 ml into each pair of duplicate wells in a 12-well plate. Be sure to include a vehicle only control. Allow plates to set overnight at room temperature. Discard any extra media.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Spread plating cells
	<ol>
		<li>Inoculate 10 ml of YEPD liquid media with 2 &#181;l of a saturated yeast culture, grown overnight as in Step 1.1.2.</li>
		<li>Plate 25 &#181;l of diluted yeast culture per well, spread evenly using sterile glass beads or rod, and allow the plate to dry under a flame. Incubate plate at 30&#176;C for 48 hr.</li>
		<li>Evaluate the growth of yeast (both total number and size of colonies) on the plates. Select a sub-lethal concentration of compound that does not inhibit growth by greater than 10%-15% to perform the screen.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
2. Systematic Chemical Genetic Screen
<ol>
	<li>Maintenance of deletion-mutant-array (DMA) and Preparation of Source Plate
	<ol>
		<li>For a detailed description on constructing deletion mutant arrays from glycerol stocks please refer to Baryshnikova et al.14. Once deletion mutants have been arrayed at a density of 384 colonies per plate, the DMA can be stored for several months at 4&#160;&#176;C. Replicate on YEPD agar containing 200 &#181;g/ml of G418 as necessary to prevent colonies from growing into each other. 
		NOTE: Multiple serial replications should be avoided to prevent loss of slow growing strains and minimize the appearance of suppressor mutants. This is particularly relevant if maintaining the collections as haploids.</li>
		<li>Perform all replica-plating steps using a microbial arraying robotic system. Alternatively, manipulate arrayed colonies using manual pinning tools. 
		NOTE: The yeast deletion collection is available as haploids and diploids from several commercial sources and is typically shipped as glycerol stocks in 96-well plates.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Condensing the deletion mutant array
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare 250 ml of YEPD agar media containing 200 &#181;g/ml of G418. The effective concentration of G418 may vary and each lot should be tested empirically.</li>
		<li>Prepare five YEPD agar plates by pouring 50 ml of YEPD agar containing 200 &#181;g/ml of G418 per plate. Do this one day before condensing the array and allow the plates to cool at room temperature overnight on a flat even surface. 
		NOTE: Four plates will be required for the collection at 1,536-strain density, the fifth plate is poured as an extra.</li>
		<li>Remove the 16 Petri dishes containing the mutant deletion collection at a density of 384 colonies per plate and allow to come to room temperature (~1 hr).</li>
		<li>Wipe any condensation that has formed on the lid of each plate using a delicate task wipe. Failure to do so may result in water droplets being deposited on the array and cross contamination of arrayed mutants.</li>
		<li>Using a microbial array pinning robot, condense the DMA from a density of 384 colonies per plate (16 Petri dishes) to 1,536 colonies per plate (4 Petri dishes). Perform this so that the 1st colony from plate 1 pins to row 1 column 1 of the condensed array, the 1st colony of plate 2 to row 1 column 2, the 1st colony of plate 3 to row 2 and column 1, and the 1st colony of plate 4 to row 2 column 2.</li>
		<li>Incubate the consolidated array at 30&#176;C overnight.</li>
		<li>Examine the array to ensure uniform transfer of colonies from source plates. There will be several blank positions, purposely incorporated into the array, which serve as a guide to ensure the DMA has been condensed correctly (Figure 4A). 
		NOTE: These will be the source plates for replica plating onto media containing the test compound. A single source plate can be used for multiple pinnings. Also many robots will have an offsetting feature, which will ensure similar numbers of yeast are being transferred each time.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Replica plate deletion mutant array
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare 700 ml of control (vehicle only) and 700 ml of experimental media (chemical-containing). This is enough for performing the assay in triplicate (12 plates per condition, plus two extras).</li>
		<li>Pour 50 ml of YEPD agar containing test chemical or control per plate. Allow the plates to cool at room temperature overnight on a flat even surface.</li>
		<li>Using the robot to replica plate, inoculate the DMA onto three sets of plates containing chemicals at the experimentally determined concentration, as well as three sets of plates containing the vehicle control. Incubate plates at room temperature for 24-48 hr.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
3. Imaging Plates and Data Analysis
<ol>
	<li>Remove plates from incubator and allow them to come to room temperature (~1 hr) prior to imaging. This will prevent condensation from forming while imaging the plates.</li>
	<li>Image plates at 24 and 48 hr by removing the lid and placing face down on a flat bed scanner. Capture images at a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Alternatively, use a digital camera to capture images. If doing so, place plates face up on a dark background and remove the lids to image. 
	NOTE: The file format and positioning of plates will depend on the quantification program used.</li>
	<li>Perform quantification and comparison of array colony sizes using one of several open source programs, including Balony 15, SGAtools 16, and ScreenMill 17.</li>
</ol>
4. Validation of Screen
NOTE: At this stage several yeast deletions mutants will score as hypersensitive to the chemical of interest. These chemical-genetic interactions must next be validated in two ways. First the identity of sensitive strains should be confirmed by PCR. Second, chemical sensitivity must be independently scored. Outlined below is a brief protocol for performing spotting assays to validate strain hypersensitivity, a technique common in yeast biology.
<ol>
	<li>Streak out desired (hypersensitive) mutants from the yeast deletion collection onto YEPD agar containing 200 &#181;g/ml of G418. Incubate at 30&#160;&#176;C until colonies form. Verify the genotype of the strain by diagnostic PCR with primers according to the manufacturer&#8217;s protocol.</li>
	<li>Inoculate 5 ml of the YEPD liquid for each strain and incubate overnight at 30&#160;&#176;C with rotation or shaking.</li>
	<li>Measure OD600 and dilute each strain to OD600&#160;= 1 in sterile dH2O. These are now the normalized yeast cultures.</li>
	<li>Dispense 100 &#181;l of normalized wild-type yeast (BY4741) culture to well A1 of a 96-well plate. Dispense 100 &#181;l of up to seven additional strains to wells B1-H1.</li>
	<li>Use a multichannel pipettor to dispense 90 &#181;l of sterile dH2O&#160;to wells A2-H2 through A6-H6. Finally, prepare a series of 1:10 dilutions of normalized yeast cultures. Start by serially pipetting 10 &#181;l of column 1 to column 2 with a multichannel pipettor, and continue across the 96-well plate until six dilutions are made (i.e., 100 to 10-5).</li>
	<li>Transfer 2-5 &#181;l of diluted yeast cultures in a grid using a multichannel pipettor onto YEPD solid media containing chemical and vehicle control. Incubate plates at the appropriate temperature for 24-48 hr.</li>
	<li>Inspect plates and compare the sensitivity of select mutants to chemical (relative to BY4741 control). Image plates at 24 and 48 hr as in step 3.2. 
	NOTE: While the identification of several hypersensitive strains with related gene ontologies or functions lends confidence to the validity of the screen, transformation of a hypersensitive deletion strain with a plasmid containing a wild-type copy of the gene is required to formally establish that a gene deletion of interest (and not hidden second site mutations) causes drug sensitivity.</li>
</ol>

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The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Outlined here is an approach for generating chemical-genetic interaction profiles. The method is simple: by comparing colony sizes of each strain in comprehensive gene deletion collections in the presence and absence of a chemical, all genes needed to tolerate a chemical insult are identified. Annotation enrichment analysis of the resulting list of sensitive strains can then be used to provide insight into a chemicals mode of action. While this protocol has been optimized for budding yeast, it can also be adapted for use...

The genetic tools and resources available in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae have enabled large-scale functional genomics studies that collectively provide new insight into how genes function as networks to fulfill the requirements of biological systems. The cornerstone of these tools was the collaborative creation of a complete set of non-essential gene deletions of all open reading frames in yeast1,2. A striking observation was that only ~20% of yeast genes are required for viability when grown as haploids under standard laboratory conditions. This highlights&#160;the ability of a cell to buffer against genomic perturbations through the utilization of alternative biological pathways. Genetic mutants that are viable individually, but lethal in combination, signal connected or convergent parallel biological pathways and form genetic interaction networks that describe biological function. With the development of conditional&#160;temperature-sensitive and hypomorphic alleles of essential genes the technology has not been limited to the study of non-essential genes3,4. This concept has been applied at a genomic scale producing an unbiased genetic interaction map illustrating how genes involved in similar cellular processes cluster together5.
Chemical perturbations of genetic networks mimic gene deletions (Figure 1)6. Querying growth-inhibitory compounds against a high-density array of deletion strains for hypersensitivity identifies a chemical-genetic interaction profile, i.e. a list of genes that is required to tolerate chemical stress. Like genetic interactions, large-scale screens of chemical libraries have shown that compounds with a similar mode of action cluster together7. Therefore, by establishing the chemical-genetic interaction profile of a compound the mode of action may be inferred by comparing it with large-scale synthetic genetic and chemical genetic interaction datasets8,9.
Large-scale chemical-genetic screens, where scores of compounds are interrogated, have been performed by barcode competition assays. In this approach, the pooled collection of deletion strains is grown en masse for several generations in a small volume of media containing a chemical. Since each deletion mutant harbors a unique genetic barcode, the viability/growth of individual mutants within the pool of deletion strains is tracked by microarray or high-throughput sequencing10.
Inferring fitness by monitoring colony size of physically arrayed mutants grown on solid agar containing a bioactive compound is also an effective method to identify chemical-genetic interactions11,12. This approach provides a cost-effective alternative to competition-based screening and is well suited for assaying small libraries of chemicals. Outlined here is a simple methodology for producing a list of chemical-genetic interactions in S. cerevisiae that does not rely on molecular biology manipulations or infrastructure. It requires only a yeast deletion collection, a robotic or manual pinning apparatus, and freely available image analysis software.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="987">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:213px;">Name of Material/ Equipment&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">Company&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:156px;">Catalog Number&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:457px;">Comments/Description&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:213px;">Yeast Extract</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">BioBasic</td>
			<td>G0961</td>
			<td style="width:457px;">For YEPD liquid/solid media add to 1% final concentration (w/v)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:213px;">Tyrptone Powder</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>211820</td>
			<td style="width:457px;">For YEPD liquid/solid media add to 2% final concentration (w/v)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:213px;">Dextrose</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">Anachemia</td>
			<td style="width:156px;">31096-380</td>
			<td style="width:457px;">For YEPD liquid/solid media add to 2% final concentration (w/v) - Do not autoclave. Prepare 20% stock solution, filter sterilize, and add to media after autoclaving.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:213px;">Agar A</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">Bio Basic</td>
			<td>FB0010</td>
			<td style="width:457px;">For YEPD solid media add to 2% final concentration (w/v)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;width:213px;">G418</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">A.G. Scientific Inc.</td>
			<td style="width:156px;">G-1033</td>
			<td style="width:457px;">Prepare 1000x stock at 200mg/ml in dH2O and filter sterilize.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:213px;">12 well plate</td>
			<td>Greiner Bio One</td>
			<td>655180</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:213px;">5ml culture tubes</td>
			<td>Evergreen Scientific</td>
			<td>222-2376-080</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:213px;">10cm Petri Dish</td>
			<td style="width:161px;">VWR</td>
			<td>25384-302</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">ROTOR HDA</td>
			<td>Singer Instruments&#160;</td>
			<td>ROT-001</td>
			<td>high-throughput microbial array pinning robot</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">PLUSPLATE&#169; Petri Dish</td>
			<td>Singer Instruments&#160;</td>
			<td>PLU-001</td>
			<td>Box of 200 dishes</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">384 Short-Pin RePad</td>
			<td>Singer Instruments&#160;</td>
			<td>RP-MP-384</td>
			<td>Box of 1000 pads</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">1536 Short-Pin RePad</td>
			<td>Singer Instruments&#160;</td>
			<td>RP-MP-1536</td>
			<td>Box of 1000 pads</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Alternative Pinning Tools:</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Fully Automated Robtic Systems</td>
			<td>S&#38;P robotics</td>
			<td>http://www.sprobotics.com</td>
			<td>Several automated colony handling robitic and imagining systems available.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Manual Pinning Tools</td>
			<td>V&#38;P Scientific</td>
			<td>http://www.vp-scientific.com</td>
			<td>Handheld replication tools and accessories.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

rapid identification of chemical genetic interactions in saccharomyces cerevisiae

Determining the mode of action of bioactive chemicals is of interest to a broad range of academic, pharmaceutical, and industrial scientists. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or budding yeast, is a model eukaryote for which a complete collection of ~6,000 gene deletion mutants and hypomorphic essential gene mutants are commercially available. These collections of mutants can be used to systematically detect chemical-gene interactions, i.e. genes necessary to tolerate a chemical. This information, in turn, reports on the likely mode of action of the compound. Here we describe a protocol for the rapid identification of chemical-genetic interactions in budding yeast. We demonstrate the method using the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which has a well-defined mechanism of action. Our results show that the nuclear TRAMP RNA exosome and DNA repair enzymes are needed for proliferation in the presence of 5-FU, which is consistent with previous microarray based bar-coding chemical genetic approaches and the knowledge that 5-FU adversely affects both RNA and DNA metabolism. The required validation protocols of these high-throughput screens are also described.

As a validation of this approach we performed a representative chemical genetic interaction screen of the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) following the above outlined protocol. 5-FU is known to disrupt thymidylate synthase as well as DNA and RNA metabolism18. The chemical genetic interactions of 5-FU are well studied and have been investigated by yeast barcode microarray techniques using both heterozygous and homozygous deletion collections8,19. Here we show that similar results can be ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Rapid Identification of Chemical Genetic Interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae at JoVE.com

Rapid Identification of Chemical Genetic Interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Here we present a cost-effective method for defining chemical-genetic interactions in budding yeast. The approach is built on fundamental techniques in yeast molecular biology and is well suited for the mechanistic interrogation of small to medium collections of chemicals and other media environments.

Rapid Identification of Chemical Genetic Interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Determining the mode of action of bioactive chemicals is of interest to a broad range of academic, pharmaceutical, and industrial scientists. ...

rapid-identification-chemical-genetic-interactions-saccharomyces

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

10.3K Views.  University of Victoria. Here we present a cost-effective method for defining chemical-genetic interactions in budding yeast. The approach is built on fundamental techniques in yeast molecular biology and is well suited for the mechanistic interrogation of small to medium collections of chemicals and other media environments.

Video: Rapid Identification of Chemical Genetic Interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Dissection of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Asci

Yeast is a highly tractable model system that is used to study many different cellular processes. The common laboratory strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae exists in either a haploid or diploid state. The ability to combine alleles from two haploids and the ability to introduce modifications to the genome requires the production and dissection of asci. Asci production from haploid cells begins with the mating of two yeast haploid strains with compatible mating types to produce a diploid strain. This can be accomplished in a number of ways either on solid medium or in liquid. It is advantageous to select for the diploids in medium that selectively promotes their growth compared to either of the haploid strains. The diploids are then allowed to sporulate on nutrient-poor medium to form asci, a bundle of four haploid daughter cells resulting from meiotic reproduction of the diploid. A mixture of vegetative cells and asci is then treated with the enzyme zymolyase to digest away the membrane sac surrounding the ascospores of the asci. Using micromanipulation with a microneedle under a dissection microscope one can pick up individual asci and separate and relocate the four ascopores. Dissected asci are grown for several days and tested for the markers or alleles of interest by replica plating onto appropriate selective media.

Dissection of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Asci

Micromanipulation of yeast cells is needed for meiotic genetic analysis or to select diploid zygotes. These micromanipulations are carried out using the microneedle of a dissection microscope. The microneedle is used to relocate cells and is controlled by a micromanipulator which are available with various degrees of automation.

Yeast is a highly tractable model system that is used to study many different cellular processes. The common laboratory strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae ...

Identification of protein complexes with quantitative proteomics in S. cerevisiae

Lipids are the building blocks of cellular membranes that function as barriers and in compartmentalization of cellular processes, and recently, as important intracellular signalling molecules. However, unlike proteins, lipids are small hydrophobic molecules that traffic primarily by poorly described nonvesicular routes, which are hypothesized to occur at membrane contact sites (MCSs). MCSs are regions where the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) makes direct physical contact with a partnering organelle, e.g., plasma membrane (PM). The ER portion of ER-PM MCSs is enriched in lipid-synthesizing enzymes, suggesting that lipid synthesis is directed to these sites and implying that MCSs are important for lipid traffic. Yeast is an ideal model to study ER-PM MCSs because of their abundance, with over 1000 contacts per cell, and their conserved nature in all eukaryotes. Uncovering the proteins that constitute MCSs is critical to understanding how lipids traffic is accomplished in cells, and how they act as signaling molecules. We have found that an ER called Scs2p localize to ER-PM MCSs and is important for their formation. We are focused on uncovering the molecular partners of Scs2p. Identification of protein complexes traditionally relies on first resolving purified protein samples by gel electrophoresis, followed by in-gel digestion of protein bands and analysis of peptides by mass spectrometry. This often limits the study to a small subset of proteins. Also, protein complexes are exposed to denaturing or non-physiological conditions during the procedure. To circumvent these problems, we have implemented a large-scale quantitative proteomics technique to extract unbiased and quantified data. We use stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) to incorporate staple isotope nuclei in proteins in an untagged control strain. Equal volumes of tagged culture and untagged, SILAC-labeled culture are mixed together and lysed by grinding in liquid nitrogen. We then carry out an affinity purification procedure to pull down protein complexes. Finally, we precipitate the protein sample, which is ready for analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography/ tandem mass spectrometry. Most importantly, proteins in the control strain are labeled by the heavy isotope and will produce a mass/ charge shift that can be quantified against the unlabeled proteins in the bait strain. Therefore, contaminants, or unspecific binding can be easily eliminated. By using this approach, we have identified several novel proteins that localize to ER-PM MCSs. Here we present a detailed description of our approach. 

Here we describe a new quantitative proteomics technique for identifying protein complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, we have used the SILAC method together with affinity purification followed by tandem mass spectrometry to identify with high specificity the binding partners of an ER protein, Scs2p.

Lipids are the building blocks of cellular membranes that function as barriers and in compartmentalization of cellular processes, and recently, as ...

Quantitative Phosphoproteomics in Fatty Acid Stimulated Saccharomyces cerevisiae

This protocol describes the growth and stimulation, with the fatty acid oleate, of isotopically heavy and light S. cerevisiae cells. Cells are ground using a cryolysis procedure in a ball mill grinder and the resulting grindate brought into solution by urea solubilization. This procedure allows for the lysis of the cells in a metabolically inactive state, preserving phosphorylation and preventing reorientation of the phosphoproteome during cell lysis.  Following reduction, alkylation, trypsin digestion of the proteins, the samples are desalted on C18 columns and the sample complexity reduced by fractionation using hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC). HILIC columns preferentially retain hydrophilic molecules which is well suited for phosphoproteomics.  Phosphorylated peptides tend to elute later in the chromatographic profile than the non phosphorylated counterparts. After fractionation, phosphopeptides are enriched using immobilized metal chromatography, which relies on charge-based affinities for phosphopeptide enrichment. At the end of this procedure the samples are ready to be quantitatively analyzed by mass spectrometry.

Quantitative Phosphoproteomics in Fatty Acid Stimulated Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Description of a quantitative phosphorylation procedure using cryolysis, urea solubilziation, HILIC fractionation and IMAC enrichment of phosphorylated peptides.

This protocol describes the growth and stimulation, with the fatty acid oleate, of isotopically heavy and light S. cerevisiae cells. Cells are ground ...

Microarray Analysis for Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In this protocol, gene expression in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is changed after exposure to oxidative stress induced by the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an oxidizing agent. In the experiment, yeast is grown for 48 hours in 1/2X YPD broth containing 3X glucose. The culture is split into a control and treated group. The experiment culture is treated with 0.5 mM H2O2 in Hanks Buffered Saline (HBSS) for 1 hour. The control culture is treated with HBSS only. Total RNA is extracted from both cultures and is converted to a biotin-labeled cRNA product through a multistep process. The final synthesis product is taken back to the UVM Microarray Core Facility and hybridized to the Affymetrix yeast GeneChips. The resulting gene expression data are uploaded into bioinformatics data analysis software.

Microarray Analysis for Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In this protocol, gene expression in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is changed after exposure to oxidative stress induced by the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an oxidizing agent.

In this protocol, gene expression in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is changed after exposure to oxidative stress induced by the addition of hydrogen ...

A Fluorescence Microscopy Assay for Monitoring Mitophagy in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Autophagy is important for turnover of cellular components under a range of different conditions. It serves an essential homeostatic function as well as a quality control mechanism that can target and selectively degrade cellular material including organelles1-4. For example, damaged or redundant mitochondria (Fig. 1), not disposed of by autophagy, can represent a threat to cellular homeostasis and cell survival. In the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, nutrient deprivation (e.g., nitrogen starvation) or damage can promote selective turnover of mitochondria by autophagy in a process termed mitophagy 5-9.
We describe a simple fluorescence microscopy approach to assess autophagy. For clarity we restrict our description here to show how the approach can be used to monitor mitophagy in yeast cells. The assay makes use of a fluorescent reporter, Rosella, which is a dual-emission biosensor comprising a relatively pH-stable red fluorescent protein linked to a pH-sensitive green fluorescent protein. The operation of this reporter relies on differences in pH between the vacuole (pH ~ 5.0-5.5) and mitochondria (pH ~ 8.2) in living cells. Under growing conditions, wild type cells exhibit both red and green fluorescence distributed in a manner characteristic of the mitochondria. Fluorescence emission is not associated with the vacuole. When subjected to nitrogen starvation, a condition which induces mitophagy, in addition to red and green fluorescence labeling the mitochondria, cells exhibit the accumulation of red, but not green fluorescence, in the acidic vacuolar lumen representing the delivery of mitochondria to the vacuole. Scoring cells with red, but not green fluorescent vacuoles can be used as a measure of mitophagic activity in cells5,10-12.

A Fluorescence Microscopy Assay for Monitoring Mitophagy in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A robust approach to monitor the delivery of organelles to the acidic lumen of the yeast vacuole for degradation and recycling is described. The method relies on the specific labeling of target organelles with a genetically encoded dual-emission fluorescence pH-biosensor, and visualization of individual cells using fluorescence microscopy.

Autophagy is important for turnover of cellular components under a range of different conditions. It serves an essential homeostatic function as well as a ...

Rapid Genetic Analysis of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Signaling During Hair Regeneration

Hair follicle morphogenesis, a complex process requiring interaction between epithelia-derived keratinocytes and the underlying mesenchyme, is an attractive model system to study organ development and tissue-specific signaling. Although hair follicle development is genetically tractable, fast and reproducible analysis of factors essential for this process remains a challenge. Here we describe a procedure to generate targeted overexpression or shRNA-mediated knockdown of factors using lentivirus in a tissue-specific manner. Using a modified version of a hair regeneration model 5, 6, 11, we can achieve robust gain- or loss-of-function analysis in primary mouse keratinocytes or dermal cells to facilitate study of epithelial-mesenchymal signaling pathways that lead to hair follicle morphogenesis. We describe how to isolate fresh primary mouse keratinocytes and dermal cells, which contain dermal papilla cells and their precursors, deliver lentivirus containing either shRNA or cDNA to one of the cell populations, and combine the cells to generate fully formed hair follicles on the backs of nude mice. This approach allows analysis of tissue-specific factors required to generate hair follicles within three weeks and provides a fast and convenient companion to existing genetic models.

Tissue-specific analysis of a hair follicle regeneration model using lentivirus to mediate gain- or loss-of-function.

Hair follicle morphogenesis, a complex process requiring interaction between epithelia-derived keratinocytes and the underlying mesenchyme, is an ...

Visualization and Analysis of mRNA Molecules Using Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) method allows one to detect nucleic acids in the native cellular environment. Here we provide a protocol for using FISH to quantify the number of mRNAs in single yeast cells. Cells can be grown in any condition of interest and then fixed and made permeable. Subsequently, multiple single-stranded deoxyoligonucleotides conjugated to fluorescent dyes are used to label and visualize mRNAs. Diffraction-limited fluorescence from single mRNA molecules is quantified using a spot-detection algorithm to identify and count the number of mRNAs per cell. While the more standard quantification methods of northern blots, RT-PCR and gene expression microarrays provide information on average mRNAs in the bulk population, FISH facilitates both the counting and localization of these mRNAs in single cells at single-molecule resolution.

Visualization and Analysis of mRNA Molecules Using Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

This protocol describes an experimental procedure for performing Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) for counting mRNAs in single cells at single-molecule resolution.

The Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) method allows one to detect nucleic acids in the native cellular environment. Here we provide a protocol for ...

Coupled Assays for Monitoring Protein Refolding in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Proteostasis, defined as the combined processes of protein folding/biogenesis, refolding/repair, and degradation, is a delicate cellular balance that must be maintained to avoid deleterious consequences 1. External or internal factors that disrupt this balance can lead to protein aggregation, toxicity and cell death. In humans this is a major contributing factor to the symptoms associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's diseases 10. It is therefore essential that the proteins involved in maintenance of proteostasis be identified in order to develop treatments for these debilitating diseases. This article describes techniques for monitoring in vivo protein folding at near-real time resolution using the model protein firefly luciferase fused to green fluorescent protein (FFL-GFP). FFL-GFP is a unique model chimeric protein as the FFL moiety is extremely sensitive to stress-induced misfolding and aggregation, which inactivates the enzyme 12. Luciferase activity is monitored using an enzymatic assay, and the GFP moiety provides a method of visualizing soluble or aggregated FFL using automated microscopy. These coupled methods incorporate two parallel and technically independent approaches to analyze both refolding and functional reactivation of an enzyme after stress. Activity recovery can be directly correlated with kinetics of disaggregation and re-solubilization to better understand how protein quality control factors such as protein chaperones collaborate to perform these functions. In addition, gene deletions or mutations can be used to test contributions of specific proteins or protein subunits to this process. In this article we examine the contributions of the protein disaggregase Hsp104 13, known to partner with the Hsp40/70/nucleotide exchange factor (NEF) refolding system 5, to protein refolding to validate this approach.

Coupled Assays for Monitoring Protein Refolding in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

This article describes the use of a firefly luciferase-GFP fusion protein to investigate in vivo protein folding in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using this reagent, refolding of a model heat-denatured protein can be monitored simultaneously by fluorescence microscopy and an enzymatic assay to probe the roles of proteostasis network components in protein quality control.

Proteostasis, defined as the combined processes of protein folding/biogenesis, refolding/repair, and degradation, is a delicate cellular balance that must ...

Measurement of mRNA Decay Rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Using rpb1-1 Strains

mRNA steady state levels vary depending on environmental conditions. Regulation of the steady state accumulation levels of an mRNA ensures that the correct amount of protein is synthesized for the cell&#8217;s specific growth conditions. One approach for measuring mRNA decay rates is inhibiting transcription and subsequently monitoring the disappearance of the already present mRNA. The rate of mRNA decay can then be quantified, and an accurate half-life can be determined utilizing several techniques. In S. cerevisiae, protocols that measure mRNA half-lives have been developed and include inhibiting transcription of mRNA using strains that harbor a temperature sensitive allele of RNA polymerase II, rpb1-1. Other techniques for measuring mRNA half-lives include inhibiting transcription with transcriptional inhibitors such as thiolutin or 1,10-phenanthroline, or alternatively, by utilizing mRNAs that are under the control of a regulatable promoter such as the galactose inducible promoter and the TET-off system. Here, we describe measurement of S. cerevisiae mRNA decay rates using the temperature sensitive allele of RNA polymerase II. This technique can be used to measure mRNA decay rates of individual mRNAs or genome-wide.

Measurement of mRNA Decay Rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Using rpb1-1 Strains

The steady state level of specific mRNAs is determined by the rate of synthesis and decay of the mRNA. Genome-wide mRNA degradation rates or the decay rates of specific mRNAs can be measured by determining mRNA half-lives. This protocol focuses on measurement of mRNA decay rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

mRNA steady state levels vary depending on environmental conditions. Regulation of the steady state accumulation levels of an mRNA ensures that the ...

Growth-based Determination and Biochemical Confirmation of Genetic Requirements for Protein Degradation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Regulated protein degradation is crucial for virtually every cellular function. Much of what is known about the molecular mechanisms and genetic requirements for eukaryotic protein degradation was initially established in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Classical analyses of protein degradation have relied on biochemical pulse-chase and cycloheximide-chase methodologies. While these techniques provide sensitive means for observing protein degradation, they are laborious, time-consuming, and low-throughput. These approaches are not amenable to rapid or large-scale screening for mutations that prevent protein degradation. Here, a yeast growth-based assay for the facile identification of genetic requirements for protein degradation is described. In this assay, a reporter enzyme required for growth under specific selective conditions is fused to an unstable protein. Cells lacking the endogenous reporter enzyme but expressing the fusion protein can grow under selective conditions only when the fusion protein is stabilized (i.e. when protein degradation is compromised). In the growth assay described here, serial dilutions of wild-type and mutant yeast cells harboring a plasmid encoding a fusion protein are spotted onto selective and non-selective medium. Growth under selective conditions is consistent with degradation impairment by a given mutation. Increased protein abundance should be biochemically confirmed. A method for the rapid extraction of yeast proteins in a form suitable for electrophoresis and western blotting is also demonstrated. A growth-based readout for protein stability, combined with a simple protocol for protein extraction for biochemical analysis, facilitates rapid identification of genetic requirements for protein degradation. These techniques can be adapted to monitor degradation of a variety of short-lived proteins. In the example presented, the His3 enzyme, which is required for histidine biosynthesis, was fused to Deg1-Sec62. Deg1-Sec62 is targeted for degradation after it aberrantly engages the endoplasmic reticulum translocon. Cells harboring Deg1-Sec62-His3 were able to grow under selective conditions when the protein was stabilized.

Growth-based Determination and Biochemical Confirmation of Genetic Requirements for Protein Degradation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

This article describes a yeast growth-based assay for the determination of genetic requirements for protein degradation. It also demonstrates a method for rapid extraction of yeast proteins, suitable for western blotting to biochemically confirm degradation requirements. These techniques can be adapted to monitor degradation of a variety of proteins.