Researchers discover yeast self-destruct pathway

Amazing stuff!

"... Future drugs to treat yeast and other fungal infections might target such mechanisms, the researchers say. ..."

From the abstract:

"Unicellular eukaryotes have been suggested as undergoing self-inflicted destruction. However, molecular details are sparse compared with the mechanisms of programmed/regulated cell death known for human cells and animal models. Here, we report a molecular cell death pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae leading to vacuole/lysosome membrane permeabilization. Following a transient cell death stimulus, yeast cells die slowly over several hours, consistent with an ongoing molecular dying process. A genome-wide screen for death-promoting factors identified all subunits of the AP-3 complex, a vesicle trafficking adapter known to transport and install newly synthesized proteins on the vacuole/lysosome membrane. ... Video microscopy revealed a sequence of events where vacuole permeability precedes the loss of plasma membrane integrity. AP-3-dependent death appears to be conserved in the human pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans."

Researchers discover yeast self-destruct pathway | Hub Finding adds to evidence that unicellular organisms have "regulated cell-death" processes like those found in animals; discovery could one day lead to new antifungal drugs

Yeast cell death pathway requiring AP-3 vesicle trafficking leads to vacuole/lysosome membrane permeabilization (open access)