Confinement of budding yeast prion-like proteins during cell fate determination and memory

(Canceled)

Le June 18 2025 at 11h30 Séminaire

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Prion-like proteins are involved in many aspects of cellular physiology, including cellular memory. We have uncovered an epigenetic memory during sexual reproduction of the budding yeast S. cerevisiae. This memory is encoded by the prion-like assembly of the mRNA binding protein Whi3. However, unlike canonical yeast prions, Whi3 assemblies are confined to the mother cell during cell division, keeping the memory to the cell that experienced a deceptive mating attempt and leaving the daughter cells naive and able to undergo sexual reproduction. I will present our recent work on the mechanism of confinement of Whi3 prion-like assemblies during cell division, which suggest that association with endoplasmic reticulum membranes is a key determinant of the mode of inheritance of prion-like assemblies. In addition, we found that several proteins, including Whi3 can transform into canonical prions when the mechanisms of their confinement are impaired. Since these proteins form age-induced aggregates, toxic for the cell, I will discuss potential links of our findings to memory and aging in metazoans.