%0 Journal Article %A Prezant, Toni R. %A Chaltraw, William E.jr %A Fischel-Ghodsian, Nathan %T Identification of an overexpressed yeast gene which prevents aminoglycoside toxicity %D 1996 %J Microbiology, %V 142 %N 12 %P 3407-3414 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/13500872-142-12-3407 %K Keywords: aminoglycoside %K Saccharomyces cerevisiae %K cation ATPase %K toxicity %K overexpression %I Microbiology Society, %X Summary: Aminoglycoside antibiotics, used to treat bacterial infections by interfering with proofreading during protein synthesis, cause sensorineural hearing loss in genetically susceptible individuals. The only aminoglycoside-hypersensitivity mutations which have been described in humans are in the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene, potentially allowing increased antibiotic binding to mitochondrial ribosomes. To identify additional predisposing mutations, a yeast model system was used to isolate genes which interact with or bypass the effects of aminoglycoside antibiotics. A novel yeast gene was isolated which, in high copy, confers neomycin resistance to yeast transformants. The neomycin-resistance 1 gene (NEO1) encodes a potential 1151 aa integral membrane protein, most homologous to the yeast DRS2 gene product, a Ca2+-ATPase involved in cytoplasmic ribosome assembly. The N-terminus of Neo1p is partially homologous to abrin A-chain, another protein which interacts with cytoplasmic ribosomes. Mutagenesis experiments demonstrate that the NEO1 product is essential for vegetative growth and that the drug-resistance phenotype requires ATPase function. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/13500872-142-12-3407