Studying AMPK in an Evolutionary Context

Author(s)
Arpit Jain, Valentin Roustan, Wolfram Weckwerth, Ingo Ebersberger
Abstract

The AMPK protein kinase forms the heart of a complex network controlling the metabolic activities in a eukaryotic cell. Unraveling the steps by which this pathway evolved from its primordial roots in the last eukaryotic common ancestor to its present status in contemporary species has the potential to shed light on the evolution of eukaryotes. A homolog search for the proteins interacting in this pathway is considerably straightforward. However, interpreting the results, when reconstructing the evolutionary history of the pathway over larger evolutionary distances, bears a number of pitfalls. With this in mind, we present a protocol to trace a metabolic pathway across contemporary species and backward in evolutionary time. Alongside the individual analysis steps, we provide guidelines for data interpretation generalizing beyond the analysis of AMPK.

Organisation(s)
Research Platform Vienna Metabolomics Center, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
External organisation(s)
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
Journal
Methods in Molecular Biology
Volume
1732
Pages
111-142
No. of pages
32
ISSN
1064-3745
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7598-3_8
Publication date
2018
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
106002 Biochemistry, 106031 Plant physiology, 106033 Phylogeny
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Genetics, Molecular Biology
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/51a14bc1-a984-484d-b7a9-0907e30aae56