Advanced insight on redox and lipid metabolism during the eukaryotic cell cycle
Our research group has previously shown that in budding yeast, lipid biosynthesis as well as the redox state are dynamic along the cell cycle. In this thesis, we expanded our understanding of dynamic lipid metabolism in the context of the cell cycle.
First, to facilitate the automated quantification of lipid droplets, we developed an algorithm for automated spot detection and is especially suited to images with lower resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. We demonstrated its functionality in four distinct applications in budding yeast. Next, we used this algorithm and discovered that storage lipid metabolism, proxied by the number of lipid droplets, is dynamic along the cell cycle in budding yeast. We also found that the mobilisation of storage lipids from lipid droplets contributes to the timely occurrence of START.
Finally, we investigated the cell cycle dynamics of metabolism in two other eukaryotes besides budding yeast, namely fission yeast and murine leukaemia cells. We measured NAD(P)H autofluorescence and the cell surface area growth rate along the cell cycle to assess the cellular redox state and lipid metabolism, respectively. Here, we found that, in all three organisms, both the redox state and lipid metabolism are dynamic along the cell cycle.
Overall, this thesis has advanced our insight on dynamic redox and lipid metabolism during the eukaryotic cell cycle, expanding our view from budding yeast to fission yeast and murine leukaemia cells, and showing that, besides lipid biosynthesis, storage lipid metabolism also is dynamic during the budding yeast cell cycle.