NOBEL LECTURE: Cyclin Dependent Kinases and Cell Cycle Control

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 487-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Nurse
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
Nobel Lecture ◽  
Cyclin Dependent Kinases

The discovery of major regulators of the eukaryotic cell cycle is described.

scholarly journals Fission yeast cell cycle mutants and the logic of eukaryotic cell cycle control

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (26) ◽  
pp. 2871-2873
Author(s):  
Paul Nurse
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Cell Division ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
S Phase ◽  
Cyclin Dependent Kinases ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Rate Limiting ◽  
Working Out

Cell cycle mutants in the budding and fission yeasts have played critical roles in working out how the eukaryotic cell cycle operates and is controlled. The starting point was Lee Hartwell’s 1970s landmark papers describing the first cell division cycle (CDC) mutants in budding yeast. These mutants were blocked at different cell cycle stages and so were unable to complete the cell cycle, thus defining genes necessary for successful cell division. Inspired by Hartwell’s work, I isolated CDC mutants in the very distantly related fission yeast. This started a program of searches for mutants in fission yeast that revealed a range of phenotypes informative about eukaryotic cell cycle control. These included mutants defining genes that were rate-limiting for the onset of mitosis and of the S-phase, that were responsible for there being only one S-phase in each cell cycle, and that ensured that mitosis only took place when S-phase was properly completed. This is a brief account of the discovery of these mutants and how they led to the identification of cyclin-dependent kinases as core to these cell cycle controls.

scholarly journals Core Control Principles of the Eukaryotic Cell Cycle

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Souradeep Basu ◽  
Paul Nurse ◽  
Andrew Jones
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Cell Cycle Progression ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
Protein Phosphatase 1 ◽  
Cycle Progression ◽  
Substrate Specificities ◽  
Cyclin Dependent Kinases ◽  
Do So

Abstract Cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) lie at the heart of eukaryotic cell cycle control, with different Cyclin-CDK complexes initiating DNA replication (S-CDKs) and mitosis (M-CDKs). However, the principles on which Cyclin-CDKs organise the temporal order of cell cycle events are contentious. The currently most widely accepted model, is that the S-CDKs and M-CDKs are functionally specialised, with significant different substrate specificities to execute different cell cycle events. A second model is that S-CDKs and M-CDKs are redundant with each other, with both acting as sources of overall cellular CDK activity. Here we reconcile these two views of core cell cycle control. Using a multiplexed phosphoproteomics assay of in vivo S-CDK and M-CDK activities in fission yeast, we show that S-CDK and M-CDK substrate specificities are very similar, showing that S-CDKs are not completely specialised for S-phase alone. Normally S-CDK cannot undergo mitosis, but is able to do so when Protein Phosphatase 1 (PP1) is removed from the centrosome, allowing several mitotic substrates to be better phosphorylated by S-CDK in vivo. Thus, an increase in S-CDK activity in vivo is sufficient to allow S-CDK to carry out M-CDK function. Therefore, we unite the two opposing views of cell cycle control, showing that the core cell cycle engine which temporally orders cell cycle progression is largely based upon a quantitative increase of CDK activity through the cell cycle, combined with minor qualitative differences in catalytic specialisation of S-CDKs and M-CDKs.

Eukaryotic Cell-Cycle Control

1992 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Nurse
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell

scholarly journals Quantitative Characterization of a Mitotic Cyclin Threshold Regulating Exit from Mitosis

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 2129-2138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick R. Cross ◽  
Lea Schroeder ◽  
Martin Kruse ◽  
Katherine C. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Budding Yeast ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Mitotic Cyclin ◽  
Constitutive Overexpression

Regulation of cyclin abundance is central to eukaryotic cell cycle control. Strong overexpression of mitotic cyclins is known to lock the system in mitosis, but the quantitative behavior of the control system as this threshold is approached has only been characterized in the in vitro Xenopus extract system. Here, we quantitate the threshold for mitotic block in budding yeast caused by constitutive overexpression of the mitotic cyclin Clb2. Near this threshold, the system displays marked loss of robustness, in that loss or even heterozygosity for some regulators becomes deleterious or lethal, even though complete loss of these regulators is tolerated at normal cyclin expression levels. Recently, we presented a quantitative kinetic model of the budding yeast cell cycle. Here, we use this model to generate biochemical predictions for Clb2 levels, asynchronous as well as through the cell cycle, as the Clb2 overexpression threshold is approached. The model predictions compare well with biochemical data, even though no data of this type were available during model generation. The loss of robustness of the Clb2 overexpressing system is also predicted by the model. These results provide strong confirmation of the model's predictive ability.

scholarly journals Two distinct ubiquitin-proteolysis pathways in the fission yeast cell cycle

1999 ◽  
Vol 354 (1389) ◽  
pp. 1551-1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Toda ◽  
Itziar Ochotorena ◽  
Kin-ichiro Kominami
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
Cdk Inhibitor ◽  
Cyclin Dependent Kinase ◽  
Anaphase Promoting Complex ◽  
Repeat Proteins ◽  
Cycle Dependent ◽  
Universal Mechanism

The SCF complex (Skp1-Cullin-1-F-box) and the APC/cyclosome (anaphase-promoting complex) are two ubiquitin ligases that play a crucial role in eukaryotic cell cycle control. In fission yeast F-box/WD-repeat proteins Pop1 and Pop2, components of SCF are required for cell-cycle-dependent degradation of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor Rum1 and the S-phase regulator Cdc18. Accumulation of these proteins in pop1 and pop2 mutants leads to re-replication and defects in sexual differentiation. Despite structural and functional similarities, Pop1 and Pop2 are not redundant homologues. Instead, these two proteins form heterodimers as well as homodimers, such that three distinct complexes, namely SCF Pop1/Pop1 , SCF Pop1/Pop2 and SCF Pop2/Pop2 , appear to exist in the cell. The APC/cyclosome is responsible for inactivation of CDK/cyclins through the degradation of B-type cyclins. We have identified two novel components or regulators of this complex, called Apc10 and Ste9, which are evolutionarily highly conserved. Apc10 (and Ste9), together with Rum1, are required for the establishment of and progression through the G1 phase in fission yeast. We propose that dual downregulation of CDK, one via the APC/cyclosome and the other via the CDK inhibitor, is a universal mechanism that is used to arrest the cell cycle at G1.

Genetic control of mitosis, meiosis and cellular differentiation during mammalian spermatogenesis

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 669 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Wolgemuth ◽  
K Rhee ◽  
S Wu ◽  
SE Ravnik
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Genetic Control ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
Mitotic Cell ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Regulatory Processes ◽  
Mammalian Cell Lines ◽  
Unique Cell

Gametogenesis in both the male and female mammal represents a specialized and highly regulated series of cell cycle events, involving both mitosis and meiosis as well as subsequent differentiation. Recent advances in our understanding of the genetic control of the eukaryotic cell cycle have underscored the evolutionarily-conserved nature of these regulatory processes. However, most of the data have been obtained from yeast model systems and mammalian cell lines. Furthermore, most of the observations focus on regulation of mitotic cell cycles. In the present paper: (i) aspects of gametogenesis in mammals that represent unique cell-cycle control points are highlighted; (ii) current knowledge on the regulation of the germ cell cycle, in the context of what is known in yeast and other model eukaryotic systems, is summarized; and (iii) strategies that can be used to identify additional cell cycle regulating genes are outlined.

scholarly journals Cell cycle analysis of the activity, subcellular localization, and subunit composition of human CAK (CDK-activating kinase).

1994 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
J P Tassan ◽  
S J Schultz ◽  
J Bartek ◽  
E A Nigg
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Somatic Cell ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
Gel Filtration ◽  
Multiprotein Complex ◽  
Cyclin Dependent Kinases ◽  
Critical Residue ◽  
Cdk Activating Kinase

The activity of cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) depends on the phosphorylation of a residue corresponding to threonine 161 in human p34cdc2. One enzyme responsible for phosphorylating this critical residue has recently been purified from Xenopus and starfish. It was termed CAK (for cdk-activating kinase), and it was shown to contain p40MO15 as its catalytic subunit. In view of the cardinal role of cdks in cell cycle control, it is important to learn if and how CAK activity is regulated during the somatic cell cycle. Here, we report a molecular characterization of a human p40MO15 homologue and its associated CAK activity. We have cloned and sequenced a cDNA coding for human p40MO15, and raised specific polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against the corresponding protein expressed in Escherichia coli. These tools were then used to demonstrate that p40MO15 protein expression and CAK activity are constant throughout the somatic cell cycle. Gel filtration suggests that active CAK is a multiprotein complex, and immunoprecipitation experiments identify two polypeptides of 34 and 32 kD as likely complex partners of p40MO15. The association of the three proteins is near stoichiometric and invariant throughout the cell cycle. Immunocytochemistry and biochemical enucleation experiments both demonstrate that p40MO15 is nuclear at all stages of the cell cycle (except for mitosis, when the protein redistributes throughout the cell), although the p34cdc2/cyclin B complex, one of the major purported substrates of CAK, occurs in the cytoplasm until shortly before mitosis. The absence of obvious changes in CAK activity in exponentially growing cells constitutes a surprise. It suggests that the phosphorylation state of threonine 161 in p34cdc2 (and the corresponding residue in other cdks) may be regulated primarily by the availability of the cdk/cyclin substrates, and by phosphatase(s).

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