"Vps1, a Novel Recycling Factor For the Traffic of Early Endosome to La" by Joshua Karl Lukehart

Date of Graduation

Spring 2013

Degree

Master of Science in Biology

Department

Biology

Committee Chair

Kyoungtae Kim

Abstract

Recycling of cellular membranes and their constituents plays a role for cell survival and growth. In the budding yeast, there are recycling traffics from early and late endosomal compartments to the late Golgi. Here, I examined a possible role for Vps1, a large GTPase, in the recycling traffic of GFP-Snc1 from early endosomes to the late Golgi. In the absence of Vps1, I observed an aberrant accumulation of GFP-Snc1 puncta in the cytoplasm that I identified as early endosomes. The N-terminal GTPase and the C-terminal GED domains of Vps1 are essential for Vps1's function in Snc1 recycling. Our finding of genetic interactions of VPS1 with genes involved in early endosome-to-Golgi traffic further suggests Vps1 functions as a recycling factor in the membrane traffic. Finally, I provide evidence that the severe accumulation of GFP-Snc1 cytoplasmic puncta in vps1∆ cells is attributed to a mild defect in the retention of the GARP component Vps51 at the late Golgi, as well as a severe disruption of actin cables.

Keywords

Vps1, Snc1, recycling, early-endosome, GARP

Subject Categories

Biology

Copyright

© Joshua Karl Lukehart

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