Jana Patton-Vogt, Ph.D.

Molecular Genetics of Phospholipid Metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans

Research in my laboratory involves events that occur within or near cellular membranes. In general, we are interested in membrane phospholipid synthesis and turnover, and the fate of the resulting metabolites. These processes are necessarily complex, because as cells and organelles change size and shape with events such as cell division, secretion, and membrane biogenesis, phospholipids must continually be broken down and resynthesized in a controlled manner. The regulation of phospholipid synthesis and turnover must take into account not only the concentrations and locations of individual phospholipid species, but also the production of lipid-derived second messenger molecules, and the environmental conditions under which the cells are growing.

The production, transport, and function of a class of phospholipid metabolites called glycerophosphodiesters is one focus of the laboratory. Glycerophosphodiesters, such as glycerophosphocholine and glycerophosphoinositol, are produced through phospholipase B-mediated cleavage of their respective phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylinositol. The glycerophosphodiesters produced are transported across the plasma membrane via specific transporters. Our laboratory characterized the first such transporter in a eukaryotic cell, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Git1 permease. The fundamental importance of this metabolism is illustrated by the fact that its basic components have been described in organisms and cell types spanning the biological spectrum. Although this metabolism is universal, many of its molecular details remain to be uncovered.

My laboratory employs the model organism S. cerevisiae for these studies, as well as  the human pathogenic yeast, Candida albicans. Mass spectrometry instrumentation obtained by Duquesne University faculty through NSF funding is utilized for these studies. We acknowledge support from the NIH for this research.

Representative Publications 

- --> --> Sun T, Wetzel SJ, Johnson ME, Surlow BA, Patton-Vogt J. (2012) Development and validation of a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantification of lipid-related extracellular metabolites in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 15;897:1-9.

Bishop AC, Sun T, Johnson ME, Bruno VM, Patton-Vogt J (2011). Robust utilization of phospholipase-generated metabolites, glycerophosphodiesters, by Candida albicans: Role of the CaGit1 permease. Eukaryotic Cell. 10:1618-1627.

Ganguly S, Bishop AC, Xu W, Ghosh S, Nickerson KW, Lanni F, Patton-Vogt J, Mitchell AP (2011) Zap1 control of cell-cell signaling in Candida albicans biofilms. Eukaryotic Cell. 10:1448-1454.

Cheng L, Bucciarelli B, Liu J, Zinn K, Miller S, Patton-Vogt J, Allan D, Shen J, Vance CP (2011) White lupin cluster root acclimation to phosphorus deficiency and root hair development involve unique glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterases. Plant Physiol. 156(3):1131-48.

Bishop, A.C., Surlow, B.A., Anand, P., Hofer, K., Henkel, M., Patton-Vogt, J. (2009) Neurofibromin homologs Ira1 and Ira2 affect glycerophosphoinositol production and transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Eukaryotic Cell. 8: 1808-1811.

Luo J, Matsuo Y, Gulis G, Hinz H, Patton-Vogt J, Marcus S (2009) Phosphatidylethanolamine is required for normal cell morphology and cytokinesis in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Eukaryot Cell. 8:790-9.

Nunez LR, Jesch SA, Gaspar ML, Almaguer C, Villa-Garcia M, Ruiz-Noriega M, Patton-Vogt J, Henry SA. (2008) Cell wall integrity MAPK pathway is essential for lipid homeostasis. J Biol Chem. 283:34204-17.

Simockova M, Holic R, Tahotna D, Patton-Vogt J, Griac P (2008) Yeast Pgc1p (YPL206c) Controls the Amount of Phosphatidylglycerol via a Phospholipase C-type Degradation Mechanism. J Biol Chem. 283:17107-17115.

Matsuo Y, Fisher E, Patton-Vogt J, Marcus S. (2007) Functional Characterization of the Fission Yeast Phosphatidylserine Synthase Gene, pps1, Reveals Novel Cellular Functions for Phosphatidylserine. Eukaryotic Cell 6, 2092-2101.

Patton-Vogt, J. (2007) Transport and metabolism of glycerophosphodiesters produced through phospholipid deacylation. Biochim. Biophys. Acta., 1771:337-342.

Boumann HA, J. Gubbens, M.C. Koorengevel, C.S. Oh, C.E. Martin, A.J. Heck, J. Patton-Vogt, S.A. Henry, B. de Kruijff, A.I. de Kroon (2006) Depletion of phosphatidylcholine in yeast induces shortening and increased saturation of the lipid acyl chains: evidence for regulation of intrinsic membrane curvature in a eukaryote. Mol. Biol. Cell. 17:1006-17.

Almaguer, C., E. Fisher, J. Patton-Vogt (2006) Posttranscriptional regulation of Git1p, the glycerophosphoinositol/glycerophosphocholine transporter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Curr Genet., 50(6):367-75.

Mariggio, S., C. Iurisci, J. Sebastia, J. Patton-Vogt and D. Corda (2006). "Molecular characterization of a glycerophosphoinositol transporter in mammalian cells." FEBS Lett 580(30): 6789-96.

Fisher, E., C. Almaguer, R. Holic, P. Griac, J. Patton-Vogt (2005) Glycerophosphocholine-dependent growth requires Gde1p (YPL110c) and Git1p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J. Biol. Chem. 280:36110-7.

Almaguer, C. Cheng, W. Nolder, C., and Patton-Vogt, J. Glycerophosphoinositol, a novel phosphate source whose transport is regulated by multiple factors in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (2004) J. Biol. Chem. 279, 31937-31942.

Almaguer, C., Mantella, D., Perez, E., and Patton-Vogt, J. Inositol and phosphate regulate GIT1 transcription and glycerophosphoinositol incorporation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (2003) Eukaryotic Cell . 2, 729-736.

Dowd, S.R., Bier, M.E., and Patton-Vogt, J.L. Turnover of phosphatidylcholine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (2001) J. Biol. Chem 276, 3756-3763.

Shirra, K.S., Patton-Vogt, J.L., Ulrich, A., Liuta-Tehlivets, O., Kohlwein, S.D., Henry, S.A., and Arndt, K.M. Inhibition of acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity restores expression of the INO1 gene in a snf1 mutant strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (2001) Mol. Cell. Biol. 21, 5710-5722.

Srinivas, A., Patton-Vogt, J.L., Bruno, V., and Henry, S.A. A role for the major phospholipase D (Pld1p) in the secretory pathway in yeast. (1998) J. Biol. Chem 273, 16635-16638.

Patton-Vogt, J.L. and Henry, S.A. (1998) GIT1, a gene encoding a novel transporter for glycerophosphoinositol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics 149, 1707-1715.

Henry, S.A. and Patton-Vogt, J.L. (1998) Genetic regulation of phospholipid metabolism in yeast. Progress in Nucleic Acid Research and Molecular Biology 61, 133-179. (Invited review)

Patton-Vogt, J.L., Griac, P., Srinivas, A., Bruno, V., Dowd, S., Swede, M. and Henry, S.A. (1997) Role of the yeast phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (Sec14p) in phosphatidylcholine turnover and INO1 regulation. J. Biol. Chem. 272, 20873-20883.

Patton, J. L., Pessoa-Brandao, L., and Henry, S. A. (1995) Production and utilization of an extracellular phosphatidylinositol catabolite, glycerophosphoinositol, by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J. Bacteriol. 177, 3379-3385.

Teaching

BIOL212          Cell and Molecular Biology

BIOL371W       Lab II Cell and Molecular Biology

Student Organization Sponsor

I am the faculty sponsor for the Duquesne Chapter of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-Undergraduate Affiliate Network  (ASBMB-UAN). The ASBMB-UAN is a national organization comprised of university-based chapters dedicated to the advancement of undergraduate research and education in biochemistry and molecular biology. Student members receive free membership to ASBMB, free access to ASBMB-related journals, and free access to other publications on topics such as graduate education and career choices. In addition, student members are eligible for UAN exclusive awards and scholarships for research and travel.