DEFINING THE ROLE OF TROPOMYOSIN-1C IN CARGO TRANSPORT IN DROSOPHILA

Abstract

Cell polarity is the asymmetric organization of different organelles in a cell, including the plasma membrane and cytoskeleton. Such organization results from asymmetric sorting of proteins, either post-translationally or pre-translationally by messenger RNA localization. In Drosophila oocytes, posterior localization of oskar mRNA is required for germplasm assembly and establishing antero-posterior polarity. oskar mRNA is transported by Kinesin, however the adaptor that links Kinesin to oskar mRNA was not known. In Aim 1 of this thesis, we demonstrate that a novel isoform of Tropomyosin, namely Tm1C, binds directly to kinesin and functions as the adaptor in linking kinesin to oskar mRNA. Oskar expression is limited to female germline, however Tm1C is also expressed in male flies. This suggests that there might be additional cargoes for Tm1C. We attempted to identify novel cargoes of Tm1C by performing a proteomic assay in Drosophila S2 cells. Apart from Khc, we identified Supernumerary limbs (Slmb) as the main interacting partner. Our further investigation of Slmb suggests that it might not be a cargo. Instead, Slmb which is a component of E3 ubiquitin ligase, might regulate the expression of Tm1C. In Aim 2 of the thesis, we show that Slmb regulates the levels of Tm1C by ubiquitinating it and facilitating its degradation by the Proteasome.