The Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a Model for Understanding RAS Proteins

It was published an updated critical literature review on human and yeast RAS pathways, specifically highlighting the similarities and differences between them. Moreover, it was also adressed the contribution of studying yeast RAS pathways for the understanding of human RAS and how this model organism can contribute to unveil the roles of RAS oncoproteins in the regulation of mechanisms important in the tumorigenic process, like autophagy.

Authors and affiliations:
Giulia Cazzanelli¹, Flávia Pereira ^1,2,3, Sara Alves ^1,2,4, Rita Francisco¹, Luísa Azevedo^1,2,4,5, Patrícia Dias Carvalho^1,2,4, Ana Almeida^1, Manuela Côrte-Real¹, Maria José Oliveira^2,3, Cândida Lucas¹, Maria João Sousa¹ and Ana Preto¹

¹ CBMA—Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal;

² Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal;

³ Tumour and Microenvironment Interactions Group, INEB-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal

⁴ IPATIMUP-Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto, Rua Júlio Amaral de Carvalho 45, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal;

⁵ Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre S/N, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal

Abstract:
The exploitation of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a biological model for the investigation of complex molecular processes conserved in multicellular organisms, such as humans, has allowed fundamental biological discoveries. When comparing yeast and human proteins, it is clear that both amino acid sequences and protein functions are often very well conserved. One example of the high degree of conservation between human and yeast proteins is highlighted by the members of the RAS family. Indeed, the study of the signaling pathways regulated by RAS in yeast cells led to the discovery of properties that were often found interchangeable with RAS proto-oncogenes in human pathways, and vice versa. In this work, we performed an updated critical literature review on human and yeast RAS pathways, specifically highlighting the similarities and differences between them. Moreover, we emphasized the contribution of studying yeast RAS pathways for the understanding of human RAS and how this model organism can contribute to unveil the roles of RAS oncoproteins in the regulation of mechanisms important in the tumorigenic process, like autophagy.

Journal: Cells

Link: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/7/2/14