Descripción del proyecto
La vía de señalización TORC1 y su aplicación en la biotecnología basada en musgos
La vía de señalización del complejo diana de la rapamicina 1 (TORC1) está sumamente conservada en las células eucariotas y participa en la regulación del crecimiento y el metabolismo celular. El objetivo del proyecto MossTOR, financiado por las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, es caracterizar la vía TORC1 en las células protonema de desarrollo temprano del organismo modelo, el musgo «Physcomitrella patens». Asimismo, pretende comprobar si la modulación de la vía TORC1 puede mejorar las aplicaciones biotecnológicas de los musgos. El desarrollo de líneas transgénicas de «P. patens» con señalización TORC1 hiperactiva permitirá probar la producción de proteínas recombinantes del complemento humano o del fármaco artemisinina, utilizado en el tratamiento del paludismo.
Objetivo
The Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (TORC1) signaling pathway, involved in the coordination of cell growth and metabolism, is highly conserved among eukaryotes, including seed plants and algae. Studies have shown that its activity could be tuned to enhance plant growth, yield and resistance to stress, or accumulation of triacylglycerol in algae, thus indicating that its power could be harnessed to improve diverse plant biotechnological applications. In this project, I aim to characterize the TORC1 pathway for the first time in the moss Physcomitrella (Physcomitrium patens), a model organism of non-seed plants, using protonema cells as a study system. This is linked to another important goal, to test whether the activity of TORC1 can be modulated in order to improve moss-based biotechnological applications. Besides the identification of a functional TORC1 in Physcomitrella, I will develop transgenic lines with hyperactive TORC1 signaling, phenotypically and metabolically analyzing them, and in collaboration with Mosspiration Biotech, test if these lines could produce more human recombinant complement proteins or the drug artemisinin, used to treat patients with complement disorders or malaria, respectively. Enhancing this yield will result in a stable, sustainable and eco-friendly production platform. It would also lead to a reduced price, for instance of artemisinin-based treatments, thus allowing poor communities most affected by malaria to contain the disease. Should this project be successful, it will open the door to improve the yield of diverse well-established products from Physcomitrella, valuable metabolites, active pharmaceutical ingredients and biopharmaceutical proteins.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinador
79098 Freiburg
Alemania