Sterol transport proteins in yeast: a review / 生物工程学报

Sterols are a class of cyclopentano-perhydrophenanthrene derivatives widely present in living organisms. Sterols are important components of cell membranes. In addition, they also have important physiological and pharmacological activities. With the development of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering technology, yeast cells are increasingly used for the heterologous synthesis of sterols in recent years. Nevertheless, since sterols are hydrophobic macromolecules, they tend to accumulate in the membrane fraction of yeast cells and consequently trigger cytotoxicity, which hampers the further improvement of sterols yield. Therefore, revealing the mechanism of sterol transport in yeast, especially understanding the working principle of sterol transporters, is vital for designing strategies to relieve the toxicity of sterol accumulation and increasing sterol yield in yeast cell factories. In yeast, sterols are mainly transported through protein-mediated non-vesicular transport mechanisms. This review summarizes five types of sterol transport-related proteins that have been reported in yeast, namely OSBP/ORPs family proteins, LAM family proteins, ABC transport family proteins, CAP superfamily proteins, and NPC-like sterol transport proteins. These transporters play important roles in intracellular sterol gradient distribution and homeostasis maintenance. In addition, we also review the current status of practical applications of sterol transport proteins in yeast cell factories.

Design of Biochemistry PBL teaching cases suitable for engineering education / 生物工程学报

Engineering education is an important part of China's higher education. With the deepening of the connotation of new engineering talents training, it is timely to carry out the curriculum reform in all directions and improve the quality of engineering talents. In order to highlight the characteristics of fostering new engineering talents, specialized courses and practical courses are becoming the focus of curriculum teaching reform. However to this end, it is urgent to explore how to strengthen fostering talents with engineering characteristics in the professional foundation courses. Taking the biochemistry course as an example, problem-based learning teaching methods were employed, appropriate teaching cases were selected, scientific and technical problems based instructional designs were explored, and students were guided to condense, analyze and solve problems. This study aims to transform the learning attitude of students from "passive" to "active", enhance students' thinking skills, highlight the engineering application of science and technology, lay the foundation for continuous and even lifelong learning, and provide a reference for fostering talents under the new engineering background.