Engineering gene circuits in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

• Grant number: 19/14146-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2020
• End date: December 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Bilsland
• Grantee: Ali Salim Faraj Silva
• 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 directed to the central nervous system frequently fail in clinical trials because of their poor transport into the brain. This is due to the inefficient import of drugs through the blood-brain barrier. In this project, we aim to use the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as host for expressing human blood-brain barrier transmembrane proteins. We will construct yeast strains where the native ergosterol synthesis pathway is engineered to promote the alternate induction of the yeast pathway versus a synthetic human sterol synthesis pathway. We will design a set of combinatorial synthetic promoters to control the cholesterol synthesis pathways, in order to evaluate the optimum dosage of each gene to promote optimum plasma membrane incorporation of human transporters. Yeast strains with human mimetic plasma membrane will be employed as hosts for the heterologous expression of several human transmembrane proteins for functional studies, which can assist the rational design of drugs targeting the central nervous system.

Scientific publications

(The scientific publications listed on this page originate from the Web of Science or SciELO databases. Their authors have cited FAPESP grant or fellowship project numbers awarded to Principal Investigators or Fellowship Recipients, whether or not they are among the authors. This information is collected automatically and retrieved directly from those bibliometric databases.)

ALMEIDA, LUDIMILA DIAS; SILVA, ALI SALIM FARAJ; MOTA, DANIEL CALIXTO; VASCONCELOS, ADRIELLE AYUMI; CAMARGO, ANTONIO PEDRO; PIRES, GABRIEL SILVA; FURLAN, MONIQUE; FREIRE, HELENA MARTINS RIBEIRO DA CUNHA; KLIPPEL, ANGELICA HOLLUNDER; SILVA, SUELEN FERNANDES; et al. Yeast Double Transporter Gene Deletion Library for Identification of Xenobiotic Carriers in Low or High Throughput. MBIO, v. 12, n. 6, NOV-DEC 2021. (17/13015-7, 19/14146-3, 17/01986-8, 18/04240-0, 18/05328-8, 18/16672-1, 15/03553-6, 19/17876-2)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SILVA, Ali Salim Faraj. Cholesterol-producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a platform for investigating human membrane proteins. 2025. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia Campinas, SP.