Discovery of intrinsically disordered sequences conferring desiccation survival

Projektinformationen

Desiccation Survival

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 838945

DOI

10.3030/838945

Projekt abgeschlossen

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 21 März 2019

Startdatum 1 April 2019

Enddatum 31 März 2021

Finanziert unter

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Gesamtkosten

€ 212 933,76

EU-Beitrag

€ 212 933,76

Koordiniert durch

UNITED KINGDOM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Desiccation Survival (Discovery of intrinsically disordered sequences conferring desiccation survival)

Berichtszeitraum: 2019-04-01 bis 2021-03-31

Zusammenfassung vom Kontext und den Gesamtzielen des Projekts

Desiccation is a form of stress wherein extremely dry conditions cause intracellular proteins to unfold and aggregate irreversibly, resulting in cell death. How cells and organisms survive desiccation is a fundamental question in biology. Families of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) in tardigrades (a phylum of microscopic animals), have been shown to be important for their survival during long periods of dryness. Under desiccation conditions, some of these proteins undergo glass-transition and gelation to form vitrified solids that protect intracellular proteins from unfolding and aggregation. However, the features of these proteins that confer protection are unknown. In this project, I endeavoured to unravel how the sequence features of tardigrade disordered proteins dictate their functions in achieving desiccation survival. The results of the project will help us understand better how proteins achieve biological functions and provide insight into possible mechanisms for combating harsh abiotic stresses.

Arbeit, die ab Beginn des Projekts bis zum Ende des durch den Bericht erfassten Berichtszeitraums geleistet wurde, und die wichtigsten bis dahin erzielten Ergebnisse

Through development of an integrative analytical pipeline, combining computational sequence analysis, structural characterization using NMR, solution biophysics and ensemble generation, membrane biophysics, yeast genetics and cell biology, I successfully identified new protein sequences and features that could contribute to desiccation survival and abiotic stress tolerance in general. I also uncovered the mechanism by which these IDPs achieve stress tolerance.

Fortschritte, die über den aktuellen Stand der Technik hinausgehen und voraussichtliche potenzielle Auswirkungen (einschließlich der bis dato erzielten sozioökonomischen Auswirkungen und weiter gefassten gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Projekts)

The results of this project provided insights into how IDPs function in a complex cellular context under stress, and resources to describe functional mechanisms of IDPs across different size and time scales. The project illustrates the importance of studying molecular mechanisms by which abiotic-stress tolerant organisms survive under harsh condition and brings possibility in future bioengineering and fundamental biological research for improving our lives.

An overview of project summary