Nth1/2 Background Information
Trehalose is a key protein that serves two main purposes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Firstly, it plays a role as a storage carbohydrate. Secondly, it protects proteins and membranes against adverse conditions, such as heat. In recovering from heat stress, trehalose is rapidly degraded by trehalases. Neutral trehalase (Nth1), also known as alpha,alpha-trehalase, is one of the three trehalases that have been described to hydrolyze trehalose in yeast. Nth1, a cytosolic protein, remains inactive but increases in concentration as trehalose levels increase. When heat-induced, Nth1 is activated by Msn2, Msn4 and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) at an optimum pH of 7.0. Nth1 is a 751 amino acid protein which forms a homodimer.
