Grant: Project Grant

Polyphosphates are molecules found in the cells of all organisms on earth - from bacteria to humans, and everywhere in between. They are very simple, made of repeating building blocks called phosphates. They can be short (3 phosphates), or very long (1000s of phosphates). For many years, the function of polyphosphates remained mysterious. However, in recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in these molecules. Incredibly, polyphosphates influence molecular pathways at the heart of cancer, infection control, neurological diseases, and bleeding disorders. Many research groups are now interested in finding ways of artificially changing polyphosphate levels in our cells in an attempt to prevent or treat these conditions. Polyphosphate chains might also represent a completely new target for anti-fungal drugs. This is because microorganisms accumulate extraordinarily high levels of polyphosphate, and this could provide a way to differentiate them from human cells. While polyphosphate biology represents an exciting new frontier in biomedical research, we know very little about how these chains are actually made. We think that figuring this out will be essential for translating polyphosphate biology to the clinic. In this new project, we are making use of the budding yeast model system. Yeast cells are very similar to human cells, but they are faster to grow, and easier to manipulate using genetic techniques. Moreover, budding yeast is a great system to study polyphosphates because polyphosphate chains make up over 10 % of the weight of the yeast cell! We will use a combination of genetics, biochemistry, and microscopy to learn how polyphosphate chains are made in yeast and how they impact important signalling pathways inside cells that work much like ours! By focusing on this one understudied molecule, we expect to uncover new aspects of cell function that can be leveraged towards the treatment of a laundry list of diseases.