Marie Curie Actions: Inspiring Researchers - Imdea

Unravelling the basicprinciples of lifeThe focus for the Penelope team is the study of protein interactionsin yeast strains and how these evolved over time as a meansof shedding light on the fundamental molecular mechanisms ofcellular networks. ‘Nowadays, after the deciphering of the humangenome, we know the components,’ says Michela Bertero,the project manager. ‘The next challenge is to understandtheir interactions.’Penelope received Marie Curie funding as a research training network.This allowed the project to recruit 16 young researchers for whomthe work marks a fi rst plunge into basic research.A network of proteinsProteins, lipids, DNA, RNA and small molecules that make upcellular components interact through what Dr Bertero calls the‘interactome network’. Diseases such as cancer occur whenthese cellular components malfunction, changing how theyinteract. Comprehension of protein-to-protein interactionswill take scientists some way towards understanding cellularhealth, she says.Penelope focuses fi rmly on four yeast species whose cellularstructures have evolved over one thousand million years.The researchers are characterising their known proteininteractions whilst looking out for any previously undetectedones. Using the four yeast genomes, they are unravellingnetworks mediated by so-called ‘SH3 domains’. Commonlyfound in the eukaryotic genomes (membrane-covered cells) ofanimals, SH3 domains are small ‘pieces’ within a protein thatare involved in many protein-to-protein interactions relevantfor different biological processes.‘Comparative analysis across the four genomes will allowus to investigate how new interactions were added to theirnetworks as well as how others were lost over time,’ saysDr Bertero. ‘By understanding SH3-mediated protein-toproteininteractions in a model eukaryotic organism, Penelopewill greatly contribute in giving unprecedented insights intoimportant biological processes.’Penelope workplan109