Iron (Fe) is an abundant protein cofactor required for the activity of a myriad of proteins and consequently is essential for numerous cellular functions ranging from DNA synthesis to respiration. Therefore, the cell must ensure that a sufficient supply of Fe is available to these Fe-dependent proteins but, at the same time, excess Fe in the cell, which can lead to cytotoxic reactions, must be avoided. Although our understanding of Fe homeostasis has benefited from over half a century of study in numerous organisms, the molecular details concerning intracellular Fe trafficking are lacking. The Merchant group has developed Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a reference organism for studying Fe metabolism in the context of poor Fe nutrition. As it is estimated that roughly one-third of the world's population suffers from symptomatic Fe deficiency and multiple human diseases are caused by mis-regulation of Fe homeostasis, understanding these mechanisms is crucial. One under-characterized response is the recycling of Fe from dispensable proteins when extracellular Fe is unavailable. How this process is regulated at the molecular level is not known. The goal of this project is to identify the trafficking pathways of Fe within the cell during Fe-limitation and discover proteins responsible for accomplishing and regulating Fe recycling.
The specific aims of this project are three-fold. First, cells will be biochemically fractionated and distribution of Fe between Fe-utilizing and Fe-storage compartments in Fe-replete vs. -deficient conditions will be determined, especially in the context of carbon source utilization (respiration vs. photosynthesis). Second, reverse genetics will be employed to characterize the involvement of Fe-regulated genes predicted to be involved in Fe recycling. Characterization will be aided by determining the subcellular location of these proteins and how these genes are regulated by Fe. Third, a classical genetic screen will be implemented to discover novel components of Fe homeostasis that may not be regulated at the gene or mRNA level and, therefore, have escaped the notice of transcriptome studies.
These aims were chosen to set a precedent for understanding the mechanism of regulated Fe trafficking in the cell, characterize genes known to be induced by Fe-limitation and discover novel genes involved in acclimating to Fe-limitation. In addition, this project has been designed to provide training with a wide-range of techniques and to gain expertise in working with a reference eukaryotic organism.

Public Health Relevance

Marginal iron deficiency, which can be asymptomatic, is globally and ecologically prevalent and it increases susceptibility of all organisms, including humans, to additional stresses and infection. This project seeks to understand the mechanism of iron allocation to individual pathways and compartments in a situation of marginal deficiency and in so doing will illuminate the mechanisms underlying the impact of poor iron nutrition on human health.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
1F32GM100753-01
Application #
8254345
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-F05-A (20))
Program Officer
Janes, Daniel E
Project Start
2012-02-01
Project End
2015-01-31
Budget Start
2012-02-01
Budget End
2013-01-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$49,214
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Chemistry
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
092530369
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Blaby-Haas, Crysten E; Castruita, Madeli; Fitz-Gibbon, Sorel T et al. (2016) Ni induces the CRR1-dependent regulon revealing overlap and distinction between hypoxia and Cu deficiency responses in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Metallomics 8:679-91
Kumar, Dhivya; Blaby-Haas, Crysten E; Merchant, Sabeeha S et al. (2016) Early eukaryotic origins for cilia-associated bioactive peptide-amidating activity. J Cell Sci 129:943-56
Fristedt, Rikard; Herdean, Andrei; Blaby-Haas, Crysten E et al. (2015) PHOTOSYSTEM II PROTEIN33, a protein conserved in the plastid lineage, is associated with the chloroplast thylakoid membrane and provides stability to photosystem II supercomplexes in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 167:481-92
Pérez-Martín, Marta; Blaby-Haas, Crysten E; Pérez-Pérez, María Esther et al. (2015) Activation of Autophagy by Metals in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Eukaryot Cell 14:964-73
Blaby, Ian K; Blaby-Haas, Crysten E; Pérez-Pérez, María Esther et al. (2015) Genome-wide analysis on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii reveals the impact of hydrogen peroxide on protein stress responses and overlap with other stress transcriptomes. Plant J 84:974-988
Allan, Christopher M; Awad, Agape M; Johnson, Jarrett S et al. (2015) Identification of Coq11, a new coenzyme Q biosynthetic protein in the CoQ-synthome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 290:7517-34
Blaby-Haas, Crysten E; Padilla-Benavides, Teresita; Stübe, Roland et al. (2014) Evolution of a plant-specific copper chaperone family for chloroplast copper homeostasis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111:E5480-7
Blaby-Haas, Crysten E; Merchant, Sabeeha S (2014) Lysosome-related organelles as mediators of metal homeostasis. J Biol Chem 289:28129-36
Glaesener, Anne G; Merchant, Sabeeha S; Blaby-Haas, Crysten E (2013) Iron economy in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Front Plant Sci 4:337
Ming, Ray; VanBuren, Robert; Liu, Yanling et al. (2013) Genome of the long-living sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.). Genome Biol 14:R41

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