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Function and Regulation of Fungal Amino Acid Transporters: Insights from Predicted Structure

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 892))

Abstract

Amino acids constitute a major nutritional source for probably all fungi. Studies of model species such as the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans have shown that they possess multiple amino acid transporters. These proteins belong to a limited number of superfamilies, now defined according to protein fold in addition to sequence criteria, and differ in subcellular location, substrate specificity range, and regulation. Structural models of several of these transporters have recently been built, and the detailed molecular mechanisms of amino acid recognition and translocation are now being unveiled. Furthermore, the particular conformations adopted by some of these transporters in response to amino acid binding appear crucial to promoting their ubiquitin-dependent endocytosis and/or to triggering signaling responses. We here summarize current knowledge, derived mainly from studies on S. cerevisiae and A. nidulans, about the transport activities, regulation, and sensing role of fungal amino acid transporters, in relation to predicted structure.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all lab members for regular and fruitful discussions. Work in the laboratories of B.A. and M.P. was funded by the F.R.S-FRNS (Fonds National de Recherche Scientifique, Belgium, 3.4559.12, T.1107.15) and an ARC grant (AUWB 2010-15-2) of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. M.P. is a Senior Research Associate and C.G. and E.V.K. are postdoctoral Researchers at the FRS-FNRS (Belgium).

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Correspondence to Bruno André .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Gournas, C., Prévost, M., Krammer, EM., André, B. (2016). Function and Regulation of Fungal Amino Acid Transporters: Insights from Predicted Structure. In: Ramos, J., Sychrová, H., Kschischo, M. (eds) Yeast Membrane Transport. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 892. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25304-6_4

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