Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Every living thing on the planet is made up of small units called ""cells"". Each cell has the ability to reproduce itself, or to morph onto a specialized cell type. Cells also have the ability to commit suicide, a phenomenon termed apoptosis. During apoptosis, cells dismantle themselves into tiny bits and pieces. These fragments are then eaten by neighboring cells. This process is very important, as it allows the controlled elimination of cells. For instance, the targeted apoptosis of cells leads to the formation of hollow structures such as the intestines.Glutamine is an amino acid which is very abundant in the blood. Work done during the past 50 years has demonstrated that glutamine promotes cell survival by blocking apoptosis. A number of situations arise where glutamine levels in the body are insufficient, and this is enough to cause some cell types to apoptose. Sick people in intensive care units and high level athletes often have frequent infections, in part because the low glutamine in their blood is not sufficient for the survival of cells of the immune system. Glutamine is also important for the survival of several cell types used in the biotechnology industry for the production of reagents such as antibodies. When grown in large vats, these cells use up most of the glutamine available to them, and they die. This obviously reduces the productivity of these cells and increases cost to biotechnology industries.The applicant is interested in understanding how a such a simple molecule like glutamine can control cell survival. The work proposed here aims at gaining detailed knowledge of how the lack of glutamine alters the molecules responsible for maintaining cells alive. This work will not only increase our knowledge of how nutrients such as glutamine promote cell survival, but will also provide new ways to improve the behavior of cell types of biotechnological interest.