Nuclear and non-nuclear roles of the map kinase sty1 on cell cycle, cell polarity and transcription

Resumen

Living beings must respond to changes in their environment in order to overcome stress situations. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Sty1 MAP kinase is required to survive to a wide range of environmental stresses. The main outcome of Sty1 activation is the regulation of gene expression through the transcription factor Atf1. Nonetheless, Sty1 also participates in other cellular processes both in a stress-dependent and independent fashion. In this thesis, I give an insight into some nuclear and non-nuclear functions of Sty1. Specifically, I describe the contribution of cell cycle and cell polarity processes to shaping the elongated phenotype of cells lacking Sty1. On the other hand, I define the role of Atf1 phosphorylation in transcription initiation, as well as, the involvement of other regulators.