Descrizione del progetto
Struttura e funzione del complesso minimo di segnalazione del recettore chinasico nelle piante
La funzione dei recettori chinasici (receptor kinases o RK) localizzati nella membrana plasmatica delle piante è segnalare i percorsi durante lo sviluppo, la riproduzione e le risposte a stress ambientali. Essi hanno funzioni biochimiche differenti e alcuni recettori chinasici, oltre a collegare i ligandi, svolgono un ruolo regolatorio all’interno dei complessi RK. Il progetto proposto MINIREX, finanziato dall’UE, intende scoprire i componenti minimi che uniscono il collegamento dei ligandi all’attivazione del recettore e all’avvio dei processi cellulari, nonché rivelare i meccanismi strutturali dell’attivazione del complesso recettore. L’obiettivo è analizzare i cambiamenti strutturali indotti dai ligandi impiegando la microscopia crioelettronica, per analizzare complessi RK incorporati nella membrana, impiegando come sistema modello il recettore immune vegetale FLS2, che percepisce la flagellina batterica.
Obiettivo
Plasma membrane-localized receptor kinases (RKs) perceive diverse extracellular ligands, allowing plants to react to various stimuli. They function in signaling processes during all aspects of plants’ life, including development, biotic and abiotic stress responses as well as reproduction. In the last decade, a major paradigm has emerged that individual RKs have different biochemical functions. There are e.g. ligand-binding RKs, which require the formation of stable complexes with RK co-receptors in order to initiate signaling. In addition to this common mode of activation, it has been revealed that additional RKs can have regulatory functions within RK complexes, and that in planta several other proteins are part of these complexes to regulate – either positively or negatively – complex formation and initiation of downstream signaling.
The proposed project aims to understand what the minimal components linking ligand binding to receptor activation and to the initiation of cellular outputs are. Furthermore, it has the goal to elucidate the structural mechanisms of receptor complex activation. To achieve this, two interconnected approaches will be pursued. The first will utilize protein expression in cell-culture to reconstitute the signaling pathway from ligand perception to activation of downstream targets. The second approach will use a cell-free in vitro expression system to reconstitute the complete RK complex in synthetic, membrane-mimicking nanodiscs. This will ultimately allow the analysis of ligand induced structural changes by cryo-electron microscopy within full length, membrane embedded RK complexes.
The well-characterized RK FLAGELLIN SENSING 2 (FLS2) and its co-receptor RK BRI1-ASSOCIATED KINASE 1 (BAK1), which are core elements of the receptor complex mediating the perception of bacterial Flagellin and function in the induction of antibacterial immune responses, will be to this end employed as a model for the proposed project.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
8006 Zurich
Svizzera