( Scientists have used a biochemical chip...)Biochemical Chip Solves Cell-mating Puzzle,Health

Scientists have used a biochemical chip to explain the important role a certain protein plays in the mating habits of yeast cells. The finding could lead to new cancer drugs with fewer side effects. //

A research team at The John Hopkins University, led by Andre Levchenko, have revealed in the journal Nature how they used their patented microfluidic chip to study yeast cells merging together. The research has solved a long-standing mystery of how a specific kinase protein, Kss1, helps cells send and receive signals from one another and the environment. When this process is impaired, it can lead to diseases such as cancer.

As cancer is characterised by the uncontrolled growth of cells, any research relating to this process could have important implications for anti-cancer drug development. Yeast cells are often used to study cell behaviour.

"Yeast is a very simple single-celled organism, but in many respects it operates much like a human cell," said Andre Levchenko, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

"That's why it's been studied for many years; what we find out in yeast often holds true for humans as well. In this study, we looked at how yeast cells signal one another when they want to merge, engaging in a type of mating behaviour. Human cells 'talk' to one another in a similar way, and it's important to understand this process."

During the mating process, yeast cells use pheromones to catch the attention of other cells. When sensors on the surface of a nearby cell pick up this 'scent', mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) carry the message to the cell nucleus. The proteins mediate the cellular response through activating multiple genes.

However, according to the John Hopkins team, biologists didn't know why the amount of two different forms of MAPKs increased during this event. Only one of them, called Fus3, appeared to be in charge of the courtship process.
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