About
Bernard TURCOTTE
Dept of Medicine, McGill University Health Center, Montréal Québec
(en année sabbatique dans l’Unité Génétique des Interactions Macromoléculaires)
Abstract:
Research in my lab focuses on a family of transcriptional regulators that are called zinc cluster proteins. Members of this family are only found in fungi (or amoeba) and possess the well-conserved motif CysX2CysX6CysX5-12CysX2CysX6-8Cys. The cysteine residues bind to two zinc atoms, which coordinate folding of the domain involved in DNA recogition. The best known member of this family is probably Gal4, a transcriptional activator involved in galactose metabolism in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Zinc cluster proteins function in a wide range of processes including metabolism, stress response, meiosis, and drug resistance. In budding yeast, we have characterized a number of zinc cluster proteins that are involved in controlling non fermentable carbon utilization through a complex regulatory network. More recently, we have extended our studies of this family of transcription factors to Candida glabrata, an important human fungal pathogen. Results show that a number of zinc cluster proteins modulate drug resistance in this pathogen