Transport of Amino Acids across the Vacuolar Membrane of Yeast: Its Mechanism and Physiological Role

In yeast cells growing under nutrient-rich condition approximately 50% of total amino acids are accumulated in the vacuoles; however, the composition of amino acids in the cytosol and in the vacuoles is quite different. The vacuoles, like lysosomes, degrade proteins transported into their lumen and produce amino acids. These amino acids should be quickly excreted to the cytosol under nutrient starvation condition and recycled for de novo protein synthesis. These suggest that specific machineries that transport amino acids into and out of the vacuoles operate at the vacuolar membrane. Several families of transporter involved in the vacuolar compartmentalization of amino acids have been identified and characterized using budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this review, we describe the vacuolar amino acid transporters identified so far and introduce recent findings on their activity and physiological function.