In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, aminopeptidase 1
(Ape1p) is a vacuolar resident protein which is
transported to the vacuole by a non classical pathway.
On synthesis in the cytoplasm the protein assembles
into a homododecamer and is transported directly into
the vacuole. It does not take the classical secretory
pathway which is taken by most of the vacuolar resident
proteins. A translocation as well as a vesicle mediated
process have been suggested to describe the cytosol to
vacuole targeting of Ape1p. Heat shock proteins of the
70 kDa family are known to assist in the transport of
proteins into various organelles like the mitochondria,
endoplasmic reticulum and nucleus. In this project we
determined that the cytosolic members of the heat shock
proteins of the 70 kDa family (HSP70s) assist in the
transport of aminopeptidase 1 to the vacuole.
Keywords: Cytosol to vacuole transport; aminopeptidase 1; heat shock proteins
