Fruit fly cells use previously unknown, complex cellular structures to store phosphate, a molecule essential to life
Three of the newly discovered organelles in a fruit fly intestinal cell. The organelles appear to be a reservoir of phosphate, a molecule essential to life.Phosphate is essential to life. Now, researchers have discovered a tiny structure inside animal cells that acts like a reservoir of phosphate, helping to regulate levels of the nutrient inside cells and triggering processes that maintain tissues when it is in short supply.
In plants, bacteria and yeast, phosphate is important for cell growth and helps cells to communicate and generate energy. While it is known to be essential in animal tissues and cells, few studies had explored its specific functions. Charles Xu, a geneticist at the Rockefeller University in New York City, was curious what role phosphate played in regulating tissue renewal in the fruit fly gut, a useful model for studying how diseases affect cells in the human intestine.
The researchers labelled the PXo protein with a fluorescent tag and noticed that it was associated with an array of oval-shaped structures in the cells that did not seem to be any of the known organelles.“These were quite visible, and we wondered what they were,” says Xu. When the scientists took a closer look at the mysterious structures, they saw they had several membrane layers, and the PXo protein was transporting phosphate across them.
Wild says that the findings lay the groundwork for exploring whether there are similar phosphate-storing organelles in other animals, including humans. She adds that it could be useful to take a deeper look at the structure of the PXo protein, to unravel how it transports phosphate into the organelles. “This would be very interesting, especially for people who come from the structural-biology side,” she says.
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