The same machinery that plays a role in the recycling pathway is used by the pathogen to survive in the cell.” In other words, the microbes hijack the normal cell transport machinery and use it to steal nutrients from the cell. Usually, the lysosome defends a cell by fusing and neutralising invading bacteria, but as Mahak pointed out, “Previous work has shown that Salmonella can survive this attack by manipulating the host’s machinery such that the lysosomes are devoid of the required enzymes. Famous examples are Mycobacterium tuberculosis (which causes TB) and Salmonella (responsible for typhoid and gastroenteritis). Random mutations are not the only threat. This regulation, stressed Mahak, “is very important to study, because the mutation of even one of them could result in embryonic lethality (the death of the organism in the embryo stage) or a shortened lifespan.” Indeed, several human genetic disorders such as Tay-Sachs disease and Gaucher's disease are a result of a mutation in the transport machinery. All proteins broken down into amino acids - the building blocks of the cell that can now be reused.Įach step of this process of recycling is controlled by multiple proteins. For example, if a vesicle fuses with a lysosome, the organelle Mahak is most interested in, their cargo of proteins will be degraded by the enzymes in the lysosome. The motor proteins carry their cargo along the microtubule tracks.ĭifferent cargo-carrying vesicles have the ability to fuse with each other or with other organelles so that they can use enzymes present inside. Think of motor proteins as trains on a track. Once they are pinched off, they are picked up by motor proteins, which behave exactly as their name suggests. The transport of recyclable cargo starts with the vesicle or the “cars” budding off from the cell membrane, almost like a bit of clay being pinched off a larger block. “They receive cargo and degrade it into constituents that are recycled and used for other purposes.” “I’m particularly looking at how cargo is delivered to lysosomes,” said Mahak, referring to the organelles that act as the recycling plants of our cells. Video courtesy: Hoogenraad Lab, Utrecht University The exchange of proteins and other material through vesicles is how organelles in the cell communicate with each other. But in the cell city, the vesicles (cars) carrying proteins (cargo) move in and out of organelles (buildings), on microtubule tracks (roads), forming or fusing with other organelles or the membrane of the cell. Imagine a busy space city, a bubble in the ether with cars carrying all types of cargo speeding about on roads in and out of floating buildings, all criss-crossing each other inside the boundary. But the real picture is a lot more complex and dynamic. The picture of a cell we see in our mind is probably similar to the schematic in most school biology textbooks, where all the organelles seem static and inert, floating in a clear goo. This refers to the way cargo is transported into and around the cell from one compartment to another. Mahak Sharma, a cell biologist and assistant professor at IISER Mohali, studies membrane trafficking pathways in the cell. India takes pride in this great ‘planned city’ that is organised by grids of roads into sectors that make transport more efficient and prevent traffic jams.Ĭoincidentally, I was in here to meet someone who studies transport organisation of a different kind. Mahak Sharma | 34 | Cell Biologist | IISER MohaliĪs I land, Chandigarh’s unique geometric orderliness is striking.
#MAHAK EPISODE SERIES#
This series honours those who beat the odds and serve as inspirations for the next generation of Indian science - a generation that is slowly and surely on its way to becoming gender equal. The challenges in Indian scientific life are many - more so for women taking up this path. Editor's note: Starting National Science Day 2018, The Life of Science and Firstpost bring you a series profiling Indian women in Science.
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