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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1994 Jun 7;91(12):5372–5376. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.12.5372

Calcineurin is essential in cyclosporin A- and FK506-sensitive yeast strains.

T Breuder 1, C S Hemenway 1, N R Movva 1, M E Cardenas 1, J Heitman 1
PMCID: PMC43997  PMID: 7515500

Abstract

The immunophilin-immunosuppressant complexes cyclophilin-cyclosporin A (CsA) and FKBP12-FK506 inhibit the phosphatase calcineurin to block T-cell activation. Although cyclophilin A, FKBP12, and calcineurin are highly conserved from yeast to man, none had previously been shown to be essential for viability. We find that CsA-sensitive yeast strains are FK506 hypersensitive and demonstrate that calcineurin is required for viability in these strains. Mutants lacking cyclophilin A or FKBP12 are resistant to CsA or FK506, respectively. Thus, both the immunosuppressive and the antifungal actions of CsA and FK506 result from calcineurin inhibition by immunophilin-drug complexes. In yeast strains in which calcineurin is not essential, calcineurin inhibition or mutation of calcineurin confers hypersensitivity to LiCl or NaCl, suggesting that calcineurin regulates cation transport.

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Selected References

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