scholarly journals Different cyclin types collaborate to reverse the S-phase checkpoint and permit prompt mitosis

2012 ◽  
Vol 198 (6) ◽  
pp. 973-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Yuan ◽  
Jeffrey A. Farrell ◽  
Patrick H. O’Farrell

Precise timing coordinates cell proliferation with embryonic morphogenesis. As Drosophila melanogaster embryos approach cell cycle 14 and the midblastula transition, rapid embryonic cell cycles slow because S phase lengthens, which delays mitosis via the S-phase checkpoint. We probed the contributions of each of the three mitotic cyclins to this timing of interphase duration. Each pairwise RNA interference knockdown of two cyclins lengthened interphase 13 by introducing a G2 phase of a distinct duration. In contrast, pairwise cyclin knockdowns failed to introduce a G2 in embryos that lacked an S-phase checkpoint. Thus, the single remaining cyclin is sufficient to induce early mitotic entry, but reversal of the S-phase checkpoint is compromised by pairwise cyclin knockdown. Manipulating cyclin levels revealed that the diversity of cyclin types rather than cyclin level influenced checkpoint reversal. We conclude that different cyclin types have distinct abilities to reverse the checkpoint but that they collaborate to do so rapidly.

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 3101-3108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas C. Kappas ◽  
Pamela Savage ◽  
Katherine C. Chen ◽  
Allan T. Walls ◽  
Jill C. Sible

Checkpoint pathways inhibit cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) to arrest cell cycles when DNA is damaged or unreplicated. Early embryonic cell cycles of Xenopus laevis lack these checkpoints. Completion of 12 divisions marks the midblastula transition (MBT), when the cell cycle lengthens, acquiring gap phases and checkpoints of a somatic cell cycle. Although Xenopus embryos lack checkpoints prior to the MBT, checkpoints are observed in cell-free egg extracts supplemented with sperm nuclei. These checkpoints depend upon the Xenopus Chk1 (XChk1)-signaling pathway. To understand why Xenopus embryos lack checkpoints,xchk1 was cloned, and its expression was examined and manipulated in Xenopus embryos. Although XChk1 mRNA is degraded at the MBT, XChk1 protein persists throughout development, including pre-MBT cell cycles that lack checkpoints. However, when DNA replication is blocked, XChk1 is activated only after stage 7, two cell cycles prior to the MBT. Likewise, DNA damage activates XChk1 only after the MBT. Furthermore, overexpression of XChk1 inXenopus embryos creates a checkpoint in which cell division arrests, and both Cdc2 and Cdk2 are phosphorylated on tyrosine 15 and inhibited in catalytic activity. These data indicate that XChk1 signaling is intact but blocked upstream of XChk1 until the MBT.


1992 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Leibovici ◽  
G. Monod ◽  
J. Geraudie ◽  
R. Bravo ◽  
M. Mechali

The immunocytological distribution of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), a protein involved in DNA replication, has been examined during the early development of Xenopus laevis. The protein is uniformly detected in nuclei during early stages up to the neurula stage. PCNA is detected by its distinctive cyclical pattern during early development, remaining detectable only during the period of S phase of each cell cycle. Immunological detection of PCNA is therefore a useful and specific non-isotopic marker of S-phase cells in the embryo. PCNA associates with typical karyomeric structures, suggesting that DNA replication starts before the nuclear compartment is entirely formed. At the midblastula transition, a new pattern of PCNA staining becomes apparent. First, a new type of PCNA staining is detected at the nuclear periphery. Second, mitotic clusters with different PCNA distributions suggest that the onset of desynchronization of the cell cycle at this stage is not random.


2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 3662-3671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. McGarry

Geminin is an unstable inhibitor of DNA replication that gets destroyed at the metaphase/anaphase transition. The biological function of geminin has been difficult to determine because it is not homologous to a characterized protein and has pleiotropic effects when overexpressed. Geminin is thought to prevent a second round of initiation during S or G2 phase. In some assays, geminin induces uncommitted embryonic cells to differentiate as neurons. In this study, geminin was eliminated from developing Xenopus embryos by using antisense techniques. Geminin-deficient embryos show a novel and unusual phenotype: they complete the early cleavage divisions normally but arrest in G2 phase immediately after the midblastula transition. The arrest requires Chk1, the effector kinase of the DNA replication/DNA damage checkpoint pathway. The results indicate that geminin has an essential function and that loss of this function prevents entry into mitosis by a Chk1-dependent mechanism. Geminin may be required to maintain the structural integrity of the genome or it may directly down-regulate Chk1 activity. The data also show that during the embryonic cell cycles, rereplication is almost entirely prevented by geminin-independent mechanisms.


2000 ◽  
Vol 113 (7) ◽  
pp. 1231-1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Bhaud ◽  
D. Guillebault ◽  
J. Lennon ◽  
H. Defacque ◽  
M.O. Soyer-Gobillard ◽  
...  

The morphology and behaviour of the chromosomes of dinoflagellates during the cell cycle appear to be unique among eukaryotes. We used synchronized and aphidicolin-blocked cultures of the dinoflagellate Crypthecodinium cohnii to describe the successive morphological changes that chromosomes undergo during the cell cycle. The chromosomes in early G(1) phase appeared to be loosely condensed with numerous structures protruding toward the nucleoplasm. They condensed in late G(1), before unwinding in S phase. The chromosomes in cells in G(2) phase were tightly condensed and had a double number of arches, as visualised by electron microscopy. During prophase, chromosomes elongated and split longitudinally, into characteristic V or Y shapes. We also used confocal microscopy to show a metaphase-like alignment of the chromosomes, which has never been described in dinoflagellates. The metaphase-like nucleus appeared flattened and enlarged, and continued to do so into anaphase. Chromosome segregation occurred via binding to the nuclear envelope surrounding the cytoplasmic channels and microtubule bundles. Our findings are summarized in a model of chromosome behaviour during the cell cycle.


1983 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-181
Author(s):  
J Van't Hof ◽  
C A Bjerknes ◽  
N C Delihas

Experiments with cultured pea roots were conducted to determine (i) whether extrachromosomal DNA was produced by cells in the late S phase or in the G2 phase of the cell cycle, (ii) whether the maturation of nascent DNA replicated by these cells achieved chromosomal size, (iii) when extrachromosomal DNA was removed from the chromosomal duplex, and (iv) the replication of nascent chains by the extrachromosomal DNA after its release from the chromosomal duplex. Autoradiography and cytophotometry of cells of carbohydrate-starved root tips revealed that extrachromosomal DNA was produced by a small fraction of cells accumulated in the late S phase after they had replicated about 80% of their DNA. Velocity sedimentation of nascent chromosomal DNA in alkaline sucrose gradients indicated that the DNA of cells in the late S phase failed to achieve chromosomal size. After reaching sizes of 70 X 10(6) to 140 X 10(6) daltons, some of the nascent chromosomal molecules were broken, presumably releasing extrachromosomal DNA several hours later. Sedimentation of selectively extracted extrachromosomal DNA either from dividing cells or from those in the late S phase showed that it replicated two nascent chains, one of 3 X 10(6) daltons and another of 7 X 10(6) daltons. Larger molecules of extrachromosomal DNA were detectable after cells were labeled for 24 h. These two observations were compatible with the idea that the extrachromosomal DNA was first replicated as an integral part of the chromosomal duplex, was cut from the duplex, and then, once free of the chromosome, replicated two smaller chains of 3 X 10(6) and 7 X 10(6) daltons.


1985 ◽  
Vol 225 (2) ◽  
pp. 529-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
A J Strain ◽  
W A H Wallace ◽  
A H Wyllie

Synchronized CV-1 cells were transfected with SV40 (simian virus 40) DNA-calcium phosphate co-precipitates. In the presence of carrier DNA, the transfection efficiency of SV40 DNA was decreased 5-fold in S-phase cells and was increased 4-fold in preparations of mitotically enriched cells as compared with asynchronous controls. No difference was observed when carrier DNA was omitted, when cells had progressed through S-phase and into G2-phase, or when the infectivity of cells to intact SV40 virus was tested. These results highlight the importance of cell-cycle-dependent factors on DNA-mediated gene transfer.


Author(s):  
Deqin Kong ◽  
Rui Liu ◽  
Jiangzheng Liu ◽  
Qingbiao Zhou ◽  
Jiaxin Zhang ◽  
...  

Cubic membranes (CMs) represent unique biological membrane structures with highly curved three-dimensional periodic minimal surfaces, which have been observed in a wide range of cell types and organelles under various stress conditions (e. g., starvation, virus-infection, and oxidation). However, there are few reports on the biological roles of CMs, especially their roles in cell cycle. Hence, we established a stable cell population of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) of 100% S phase by thymidine treatment, and determined certain parameters in G2 phase released from S phase. Then we found a close relationship between CMs formation and cell cycle, and an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial function. After the synchronization of HepG2 cells were induced, CMs were observed through transmission electron microscope in G2 phase but not in G1, S and M phase. Moreover, the increased ATP production, mitochondrial and intracellular ROS levels were also present in G2 phase, which demonstrated a positive correlation with CMs formation by Pearson correlation analysis. This study suggests that CMs may act as an antioxidant structure in response to mitochondria-derived ROS during G2 phase and thus participate in cell cycle progression.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 5391-5403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariacristina Chioda ◽  
Fabio Spada ◽  
Ragnhild Eskeland ◽  
Eric M. Thompson

ABSTRACT Metazoan histones are generally classified as replication-dependent or replacement variants. Replication-dependent histone genes contain cell cycle-responsive promoter elements, their transcripts terminate in an unpolyadenylated conserved stem-loop, and their mRNAs accumulate sharply during S phase. Replacement variant genes lack cell cycle-responsive promoter elements, their polyadenylated transcripts lack the stem-loop, and they are expressed at low levels throughout the cell cycle. During early development of some organisms with rapid cleavage cycles, replication-dependent mRNAs are not fully S phase restricted until complete cell cycle regulation is achieved. The accumulation of polyadenylated transcripts during this period has been considered incompatible with metazoan development. We show here that histone metabolism in the urochordate Oikopleura dioica does not accord with some key tenets of the replication-dependent/replacement variant paradigm. During the premetamorphic mitotic phase of development, expressed variants shared characteristics of replication-dependent histones, including the 3′ stem-loop, but, in contrast, were extensively polyadenylated. After metamorphosis, when cells in many tissues enter endocycles, there was a global downregulation of histone transcript levels, with most variant transcripts processed at the stem-loop. Contrary to the 30-fold S-phase upregulation of histone transcripts described in common metazoan model organisms, we observed essentially constant histone transcript levels throughout both mitotic and endoreduplicative cell cycles.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 4576-4578 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Dalton ◽  
J R Wells

Levels of trans-acting factor (H1-SF) binding to the histone H1 gene-specific motif (5'-AAACACA-3' [L. S. Coles and J. R. E. Wells, Nucleic Acids Res. 13:585-594, 1985]) increase 12-fold from G1 to S-phase in synchronized cells and decrease again in G2 phase of the cell cycle. Since the H1 element is required for S-phase expression of H1 genes (S. Dalton and J. R. E. Wells, EMBO J. 7:49-56, 1988), it is likely that the increased levels of H1-SF binding component play an important role in S-phase regulation of H1 gene transcription.


1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 939-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Dübel ◽  
H C Schaller

Using bromodeoxyuridine incorporation to label cells in S phase we found that ectodermal epithelial cells of Hydra can start and complete their terminal differentiation in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. Most of the cells traversed their last S phase before the signal for differentiation, namely excision of head or foot, was given. The S phase inhibitor aphidicolin accordingly did not inhibit head or foot specific differentiation. The results show that differentiation to either head- or foot-specific ectodermal epithelial cells can start and is completed within the same G2 phase. This is therefore the first description of a complete differentiation from a population of proliferating cells to terminally differentiated, cell cycle-arrested cells without the necessity of passing through an S phase or mitosis.


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