Biographical sketch
Ester Rieter (1981) studied Biology and Medical Laboratory Research at the School for Applied Sciences at the Fontys University of Professional Education in Eindhoven, followed by a Master’s degree in Cancer, Genomics and Developmental Biology at the Utrecht University. During her Bachelor she performed internships at the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF) in Davos, Switzerland and at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) in Brisbane, Australia. During her Master she did internships at the Hubrecht Laboratory in Utrecht and at the Department of Cell Biology in the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU). In 2008 she started her PhD at the Department of Cell Biology with Dr. F. Reggiori. Within his research group they focus on the molecular mechanism and regulation of autophagy. Currently working in the Cell Growth & Differentiation Lab with Prof. P.J. Coffer, she studies the role of Atg18 in autophagy using yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model.
Research area
Autophagy is a pathway crucial for numerous cellular processes. Its molecular mechanism however is largely unknown. The protein Atg9 is a key regulator of the pathway and one of the first factors to be recruited to the pre-autophagosomal structure (PAS), the site of autophagosome formation. After autophagosome completion Atg9 is recycled back to its cytoplasmic pools, the Atg9 reservoirs. Both Atg18 and Atg2 are required for this recycling step. The aim of this study is to gain knowledge about the molecular mechanism by which Atg18 together with Atg2 are involved in Atg9 recycling.
Publications
Iryna Monastyrska*, Ester Rieter*, Daniel J. Klionsky and Fulvio Reggiori. The different roles of the cytoskeleton in autophagy. Biological Reviews. (2009)
Muriel Mari, Janice Griffith, Ester Rieter, Lakshmi Krishnappa, Daniel J. Klionsky and Fulvio Reggiori. An Atg9-containing compartment that functions in the early steps of autophagosome biogenesis. J Cell Biol. (2010)
Wansleeben C, van Gurp L, Feitsma H, Kroon C, Rieter E, Verberne M, Guryev V, Cuppen E, Meijlink F. An ENU-mutagenesis screen in the mouse: identification of novel developmental gene functions. Plos One. (2011)