Mechanistic studies of plasmodesmal permeability

胞间连丝通透性的机制研究

• 批准号: 1715785
• 负责人: Magdalena Bezanilla
• 金额: $ 75.16万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-08-01 至 2018-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1715785&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mechanistic; studies; plasmodesmal; permeability

This project is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between a biologist and physicist to investigate the molecular mechanisms that plant cells use to regulate cell-to-cell communication. Cells must communicate with each other in order to form tissues and ultimately establish a body plan. In contrast to animals, plant cells are surrounded by walls permanently locking cells to their sister cells. Thus, tissue formation and cell-to-cell communication is quite different in plants compared to animals. To negotiate the permanence of the wall, plants have evolved intricate channels that mediate movement of molecules between cells. While these channels were identified in the 1800s, it has been very challenging to understand how these channels function, and what determines whether they are open or closed. The research here will capitalize on findings that a protein named myosin VIII is found near these channels during very specific stages of development. Plants lacking this protein exhibit patterning defects that likely result from impaired cell-to-cell communication. By investigating the nature of how this molecule interacts with the channels, this research will provide much needed insights into regulation of cell-to-cell communication, and have broad implications for the fields of plant cell and developmental biology. Including undergraduates from both a primarily undergraduate institution as well as a research university will further broaden the impact of the research. The undergraduates will work together to incorporate quantitative cellular modeling and molecular cell biology to answer fundamental questions in cell-to-cell communication. Additionally, a program for middle-school aged girls will be developed to encourage the participation of women in STEM disciplines.Plasmodesmata, the channels that connect plant cells to mediate cell-to-cell communication, are poorly understood at the molecular level. These channels have been challenging to study because they are absolutely essential for plant viability and development. This project will investigate this critical developmental problem in the cell and developmental biological plant model, the moss Physcomitrella patens. P. patens is uniquely suited for these studies as it has a simple body plan that is highly amenable to cell biological and genetic manipulation. This research will build upon the development of a moss line that contains a single myosin VIII protein, an actin-based molecular motor, which localizes to plasmodesmata at only one cross wall at a particular stage of development, providing a long-needed genetic and cellular system to study how actin and myosin may regulate the conductance of plasmodesmata. Using a combination of quantitative microscopy and computational modeling, this project will determine whether myosin VIII has an impact on the movement of molecules between cells. Taking advantage of myosin VIII as a molecular handle, the proposed research will identify new pathways regulating plasmodesmata function, ultimately impacting patterning and development. Since myosin VIII and actin are highly conserved between moss and seed plants, these studies are expected to identify evolutionarily ancient mechanisms controlling cell-to-cell communication and tissue patterning.

该项目是生物学家与物理学家之间的多学科合作，用于研究植物细胞用于调节细胞对细胞通信的分子机制。细胞必须相互通信，以形成组织并最终建立身体计划。与动物相反，植物细胞被永久锁定在其姊妹细胞的壁包围。因此，与动物相比，植物的组织形成和细胞对细胞通信截然不同。为了协商壁的永久性，植物已经进化出了复杂的通道，以介导细胞之间分子的运动。尽管在1800年代确定了这些渠道，但了解这些渠道的功能以及确定它们是开放还是关闭的是什么，这是非常具有挑战性的。此处的研究将利用发现在非常具体的开发阶段，在这些渠道附近发现了一种名为肌球蛋白VIII的蛋白质。缺乏该蛋白质的植物表现出可能导致细胞对细胞通信受损的模式缺陷。通过研究该分子如何与通道相互作用的性质，这项研究将为细胞对细胞通信的调节提供急需的见解，并对植物细胞和发育生物学领域具有广泛的影响。包括主要是本科机构以及研究大学的本科生将进一步扩大研究的影响。本科生将共同融合定量的细胞建模和分子细胞生物学，以回答细胞间通信中的基本问题。此外，将开发一个针对中学年龄的女孩的计划，以鼓励女性参与茎学科。质量流质植物（将植物细胞连接以介导细胞到细胞的通信的通道，在分子水平上都了解得很糟糕。这些渠道一直在挑战研究，因为它们对于植物的生存能力和开发绝对是必不可少的。该项目将研究细胞和发育生物植物模型Moss Physcomitrella Patens中的这个关键发育问题。 P. Patens非常适合这些研究，因为它具有一个简单的身体计划，该计划非常适合细胞生物学和遗传操作。这项研究将建立在苔藓系的发展基础上，该苔藓线包含单个肌球蛋白VIII蛋白，这是一种基于肌动蛋白的分子运动，该蛋白仅在一个特定发育阶段仅在一个十字壁上定位于质量胶质，从而提供长期以来的遗传和细胞系统，以研究肌动蛋白和肌醇如何调节质子质体的电导率。使用定量显微镜和计算建模的组合，该项目将确定肌球蛋白VIII是否对细胞之间的分子运动有影响。利用肌球蛋白VIII作为分子手柄，拟议的研究将确定调节盆地功能的新途径，最终影响模式和发育。由于肌球蛋白VIII和肌动蛋白在苔藓和种子植物之间高度保守，因此这些研究有望鉴定出控制细胞对细胞通信和组织模式的进化古老的机制。