Estimating the number of prions in yeast cells

Prion dynamics and the quest for the genetic determinant in protein-only inheritance

According to the prion hypothesis, proteins may act in atypical roles as genetic elements of infectivity and inheritance by undergoing self-replicating changes in physical state. While the preponderance of evidence strongly supports this concept particularly in fungi, the detailed mechanisms by which distinct protein forms specify unique phenotypes are emerging concepts. A particularly active area of investigation is the molecular nature of the heritable species, which has been probed through genetic, biochemical, and cell biological experimentation as well as by mathematical modeling. Here, we suggest that these studies are converging to implicate small aggregates composed of prion-state conformers as the transmissible genetic determinants of protein-based phenotypes.

The number and transmission of [PSI] prion seeds (Propagons) in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Background

Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) prions are efficiently propagated and the on-going generation and transmission of prion seeds (propagons) to daughter cells during cell division ensures a high degree of mitotic stability. The reversible inhibition of the molecular chaperone Hsp104p by guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) results in cell division-dependent elimination of yeast prions due to a block in propagon generation and the subsequent dilution out of propagons by cell division.

Principal Findings

Analysing the kinetics of the GdnHCl-induced elimination of the yeast [PSI⁺] prion has allowed us to develop novel statistical models that aid our understanding of prion propagation in yeast cells. Here we describe the application of a new stochastic model that allows us to estimate more accurately the mean number of propagons in a [PSI⁺] cell. To achieve this accuracy we also experimentally determine key cell reproduction parameters and show that the presence of the [PSI⁺] prion has no impact on these key processes. Additionally, we experimentally determine the proportion of propagons transmitted to a daughter cell and show this reflects the relative cell volume of mother and daughter cells at cell division.

Conclusions

While propagon generation is an ATP-driven process, the partition of propagons to daughter cells occurs by passive transfer via the distribution of cytoplasm. Furthermore, our new estimates of n₀, the number of propagons per cell (500–1000), are some five times higher than our previous estimates and this has important implications for our understanding of the inheritance of the [PSI⁺] and the spontaneous formation of prion-free cells.

Cell division is essential for elimination of the yeast [PSI+] prion by guanidine hydrochloride

Guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn.HCl) blocks the propagation of yeast prions by inhibiting Hsp104, a molecular chaperone that is absolutely required for yeast prion propagation. We had previously proposed that ongoing cell division is required for Gdn.HCl-induced loss of the [PSI+] prion. Subsequently, Wu et al.[Wu Y, Greene LE, Masison DC, Eisenberg E (2005) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:12789-12794] claimed to show that Gdn.HCl can eliminate the [PSI+] prion from alpha-factor-arrested cells leading them to propose that in Gdn.HCl-treated cells the prion aggregates are degraded by an Hsp104-independent mechanism. Here we demonstrate that the results of Wu et al. can be explained by an unusually high rate of alpha-factor-induced cell death in the [PSI+] strain (780-1D) used in their studies. What appeared to be no growth in their experiments was actually no increase in total cell number in a dividing culture through a counterbalancing level of cell death. Using media-exchange experiments, we provide further support for our original proposal that elimination of the [PSI+] prion by Gdn.HCl requires ongoing cell division and that prions are not destroyed during or after the evident curing phase.

Prion stability

The rate of spontaneous change from psi(-) to the psi(+) condition, determined in yeast by states of the Sup35p protein, is briefly discussed together with the conditions necessary for such change to occur. Conditions that promote and which affect the rate of induction of psi(+) in Sup35p and of other prion-forming proteins to their respective prion forms are also discussed. These include the influence of the amount of non-prion protein, the presence of other prions, the activity of chaperones, and brief descriptions of the role of native sequences in the proteins and how alteration of sequences in prion-forming proteins influences the rate of induction of [prion(+)] and amyloid forms. The second part of this article discusses the conditions which affect the reversion of psi(+) to psi-, including factors which affect the copy-number of prion "seeds" or propagons and their partition. The principal factor discussed is the activity of the chaperone Hsp104, but the existence of other factors, such protein sequence and of other, less well-studied agents is touched upon and comparisons are made, as appropriate, with studies with other yeast prions. We conclude with a discussion of models of maintenance, in particular that of Tanaka et al. published in Nature (2006), which provides much insight into the phenotypic and genetic parameters of the numerous "variants" of prions increasingly being described in the literature.