DMMC Course MODEL SYSTEMS IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS

1000-1115 Thursday 27 April 2006. UCD Conway Institute Seminar Room 2

Yeast: prion research
Technical Spotlight: infecting yeast with prions
Dr Gary Jones, Department of Biology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Mammalian prion diseases are well documented and include Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans. The prion hypothesis, which is still contentious in the mammalian field, states that the causative agent of these diseases is a proteinaceous infection particle devoid of any nucleic acid component. Yeast cells also contain proteins that can form prions and provide an ideal experimental system for studying genetic factors affecting prion formation. Prions were discovered in yeast ten years ago, and the prion hypothesis has since been proven in this model system.

Jones Lab web page: http://biology.nuim.ie//staff/gjyeast.shtml

Resources

Review: G.W. Jones and M.F. Tuite (2005) Chaperoning prions: the cellular machinery for propagating an infectious protein? BioEssays 27, 823-832. PubMed Entry