Identification of pairs of transporters responsible for the import of xenobiotics through the plasma membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

• Grant number: 18/25446-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2019
• End date: February 29, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Bilsland
• Grantee: Letícia Grillo Guimarães Pereira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/03553-6 - Engineering yeast cells for drug discovery, AP.JP

Abstract

Drugs are usually designed on the assumption that they enter cells by passive diffusion through the plasma membrane. However, there is increasing evidence that the transmembrane transport of xenobiotics by passive diffusion is the exception and not the rule. In this project, I will use Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast as a platform to study the transport of chemicals into and out of cells. To this end, I will use a collection of yeast strains with double deletions in genes encoding plasma membrane transporters, aiming to identify drug resistant strains, which will allow to infer the import routes of the compounds. We have preliminary results showing that it is possible to successfully identify transporters responsible for the importation of fungicides, and aim to broaden the screening to identify a wide range of xenobiotic pathways. In addition, we aim to identify which pairs of carriers work in parallel for the import of xenobiotic compounds and begin to create a database of specificity between transporters and substrates.