Loewen, Christopher (The University of British Columbia)

Purpose

The general objective of this research proposal is to define roles for lipids in the regulation of cellular metabolism. This research will enhance our understanding of basic fundamental mechanisms of lipid-mediated intracellular signalling and will identify new metabolic regulatory mechanisms important to all organisms. Presently, very little is known about the functions of lipids in these processes. The model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae has proven to be an excellent model system for investigating the roles of lipids in cells because of the ease of genetic manipulation in this organism and the highly conserved nature of these pathways. Thus, many of the groundbreaking discoveries made in yeast have been highly applicable to higher organisms including humans. We will use sophisticated high-throughput yeast genetics to define cellular pathways that regulate phospholipid metabolism on a genome-wide scale. These studies will identify important new factors involved in the global control of lipid synthesis and uncover fundamental novel mechanisms of lipid-based signal transduction.