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Biophysical and Bioanalytical Probes of Iron Trafficking, Speciation and Regulation in Yeast
Start Date: 2/16/2017Start Time: 4:30 PM
End Date: 2/16/2017End Time: 5:30 PM
Event Description
Paul A. Lindahl, PhD, Texas A&M University

 

“Biophysical and Bioanalytical Probes of Iron Trafficking, Speciation and Regulation in Yeast”

Iron is an important component of eukaryotic cells. Due to its excellent catalytic properties, this d-block transition metal is found at the active sites of numerous metalloenzymes, where it a critical player in catalyzing enzyme reactions. Much of the iron that enters cells flows into mitochondria where it is used to build iron-sulfur clusters and hemes, many of which are then installed into the respiratory complexes that are used by mitochondria to generate cellular energy via oxidative phosphorylation. Another portion of the iron that enters cells is stored; in yeast, iron is stored within vacuoles, an acidic organelle related to endosomes and lysosomes in mammalian cells. This trafficking of iron is highly regulated but the mechanism of this homeostatic regulation is incompletely understood. We are using Mössbauer and EPR spectroscopies to examine the iron content of various genetic strains of budding yeast with the goal of better understanding trafficking patterns and regulation. The results of these studies are used to construct ordinary-differential-equations-based mathematical models that can explain iron trafficking and regulation from a systems’ level perspective. Eukaryotic cells are known to contain “labile iron pools” that are involved in trafficking and regulation, but such pools have not been well characterized. Towards this end we have assembled a novel liquid chromatography system inside of a refrigerated anaerobic glove box that is interfaced to an on-line inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). We are using this instrument to investigate labile metal pools in cells, and have detected dozens of low-molecular-mass metal complexes that we suspect are involved in trafficking and regulation. The results of recent studies will be presented.

Contact Information:
Name: Haifeng (Frank) Ji
Phone: 215.895.2562
Email: hj56@drexel.edu
Location:
Disque Hall, Room 109, 32 South 32nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Audience:
  • Undergraduate Students
  • Graduate Students
  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Special Features:
  • Free Food

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