Visualizing the complex functions and mechanisms of the anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C)

The Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C): A Versatile E3 Ubiquitin Ligase

In the present chapter we discuss the essential roles of the human E3 ubiquitin ligase Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C) in mitosis as well as the emerging evidence of important APC/C roles in cellular processes beyond cell division control such as regulation of genomic integrity and cell differentiation of the nervous system. We consider the potential incipient role of APC/C dysregulation in the pathophysiology of the neurological disorder Alzheimer's disease (AD). We also discuss how certain Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) viruses take control of the host's cell division regulatory system through harnessing APC/C ubiquitin ligase activity and hypothesise the plausible molecular mechanisms underpinning virus manipulation of the APC/C. We also examine how defects in the function of this multisubunit protein assembly drive abnormal cell proliferation and lastly argue the potential of APC/C as a promising therapeutic target for the development of innovative therapies for the treatment of chronic malignancies such as cancer.

Mitotic Cell Division in Caenorhabditis elegans

Mitotic cell divisions increase cell number while faithfully distributing the replicated genome at each division. The Caenorhabditis elegans embryo is a powerful model for eukaryotic cell division. Nearly all of the genes that regulate cell division in C. elegans are conserved across metazoan species, including humans. The C. elegans pathways tend to be streamlined, facilitating dissection of the more redundant human pathways. Here, we summarize the virtues of C. elegans as a model system and review our current understanding of centriole duplication, the acquisition of pericentriolar material by centrioles to form centrosomes, the assembly of kinetochores and the mitotic spindle, chromosome segregation, and cytokinesis.

Defining a Characteristic Gene Expression Set Responsible for Cancer Stem Cell-Like Features in a Sub-Population of Ewing Sarcoma Cells CADO-ES1

One of the still open questions in Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone tumor with weak therapeutic options, is to identify the tumor-driving cell (sub) population and to understand the specifics in the biological network of these cells. This basic scientific insight might foster the development of more specific therapeutic target patterns. The experimental approach is based on a side population (SP) of Ewing cells, based on the model cell line CADO-ES1. The SP is established by flow cytometry and defined by the idea that tumor stem-like cells can be identified by the time-course in clearing a given artificial dye. The SP was characterized by a higher colony forming activity, by a higher differentiation potential, by higher resistance to cytotoxic drugs, and by morphology. Several SP and non-SP cell fractions and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell reference were analyzed by short read sequencing of the full transcriptome. The double-differential analysis leads to an altered expression structure of SP cells centered around the AP-1 and APC/c complex. The SP cells share only a limited proportion of the full mesenchymal stem cell stemness set of genes. This is in line with the expectation that tumor stem-like cells share only a limited subset of stemness features which are relevant for tumor survival.

Architecture of the CBF3-centromere complex of the budding yeast kinetochore

Kinetochores are multicomponent complexes responsible for coordinating the attachment of centromeric DNA to mitotic-spindle microtubules. The point centromeres of budding yeast are organized into three centromeric determining elements (CDEs), and are associated with the centromere-specific nucleosome Cse4. Deposition of Cse4 at CEN loci is dependent on the CBF3 complex that engages CDEIII to direct Cse4 nucleosomes to CDEII. To understand how CBF3 recognizes CDEIII and positions Cse4, we determined a cryo-EM structure of a CBF3-CEN complex. CBF3 interacts with CEN DNA as a head-to-head dimer that includes the whole of CDEIII and immediate 3' regions. Specific CEN-binding of CBF3 is mediated by a Cep3 subunit of one of the CBF3 protomers that forms major groove interactions with the conserved and essential CCG and TGT motifs of CDEIII. We propose a model for a CBF3-Cse4-CEN complex with implications for understanding CBF3-directed deposition of the Cse4 nucleosome at CEN loci.

Copper Chaperone Atox1 Interacts with Cell Cycle Proteins

The anaphase-promoting complex (APC) is involved in several processes in the cell cycle, most prominently it facilitates the separation of the sister chromatids during mitosis, before cell division. Because of the key role in the cell cycle, APC is suggested as a putative target for anticancer agents. We here show that the copper chaperone Atox1, known for shuttling copper in the cytoplasm from Ctr1 to ATP7A/B in the secretory pathway, interacts with several APC subunits. Atox1 interactions with APC subunits were discovered by mass spectrometry of co-immunoprecipitated samples and further confirmed using proximity ligation assays in HEK293T cells. Upon comparing wild-type cells with those in which the Atox1 gene had been knocked out, we found that in the absence of Atox1 protein, cells have prolonged G2/M phases and a slower proliferation rate. Thus, in addition to copper transport for loading of copper-dependent enzymes, Atox1 may modulate the cell cycle by interacting with APC subunits.

Posing the APC/C E3 Ubiquitin Ligase to Orchestrate Cell Division

The anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) E3 ligase controls mitosis and nonmitotic pathways through interactions with proteins that coordinate ubiquitylation. Since the discovery that the catalytic subunits of APC/C are conformationally dynamic cullin and RING proteins, many unexpected and intricate regulatory mechanisms have emerged. Here, we review structural knowledge of this regulation, focusing on: (i) coactivators, E2 ubiquitin (Ub)-conjugating enzymes, and inhibitors engage or influence multiple sites on APC/C including the cullin-RING catalytic core; and (ii) the outcomes of these interactions rely on mobility of coactivators and cullin-RING domains, which permits distinct conformations specifying different functions. Thus, APC/C is not simply an interaction hub, but is instead a dynamic, multifunctional molecular machine whose structure is remodeled by binding partners to achieve temporal ubiquitylation regulating cell division.

Who guards the guardian? Mechanisms that restrain APC/C during the cell cycle

The cell cycle is principally controlled by Cyclin Dependent Kinases (CDKs), whose oscillating activities are determined by binding to Cyclin coactivators. Cyclins exhibit dynamic changes in abundance as cells pass through the cell cycle. The sequential, timed accumulation and degradation of Cyclins, as well as many other proteins, imposes order on the cell cycle and contributes to genome maintenance. The destruction of many cell cycle regulated proteins, including Cyclins A and B, is controlled by a large, multi-subunit E3 ubiquitin ligase termed the Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C). APC/C activity is tightly regulated during the cell cycle. Its activation state increases dramatically in mid-mitosis and it remains active until the end of G1 phase. Following its mandatory inactivation at the G1/S boundary, APC/C activity remains low until the subsequent mitosis. Due to its role in guarding against the inappropriate or untimely accumulation of Cyclins, the APC/C is a core component of the cell cycle oscillator. In addition to the regulation of Cyclins, APC/C controls the degradation of many other substrates. Therefore, it is vital that the activity of APC/C itself be tightly guarded. The APC/C is most well studied for its role and regulation during mitosis. However, the APC/C also plays a similarly important and conserved role in the maintenance of G1 phase. Here we review the diverse mechanisms counteracting APC/C activity throughout the cell cycle and the importance of their coordinated actions on cell growth, proliferation, and disease.

Cezanne/OTUD7B is a cell cycle-regulated deubiquitinase that antagonizes the degradation of APC/C substrates

The anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase and key regulator of cell cycle progression. Since APC/C promotes the degradation of mitotic cyclins, it controls cell cycle-dependent oscillations in cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activity. Both CDKs and APC/C control a large number of substrates and are regulated by analogous mechanisms, including cofactor-dependent activation. However, whereas substrate dephosphorylation is known to counteract CDK, it remains largely unknown whether deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) antagonize APC/C substrate ubiquitination during mitosis. Here, we demonstrate that Cezanne/OTUD7B is a cell cycle-regulated DUB that opposes the ubiquitination of APC/C targets. Cezanne is remarkably specific for K11-linked ubiquitin chains, which are formed by APC/C in mitosis. Accordingly, Cezanne binds established APC/C substrates and reverses their APC/C-mediated ubiquitination. Cezanne depletion accelerates APC/C substrate degradation and causes errors in mitotic progression and formation of micronuclei. These data highlight the importance of tempered APC/C substrate destruction in maintaining chromosome stability. Furthermore, Cezanne is recurrently amplified and overexpressed in numerous malignancies, suggesting a potential role in genome maintenance and cancer cell proliferation.

Mechanism for remodelling of the cell cycle checkpoint protein MAD2 by the ATPase TRIP13

The maintenance of genome stability during mitosis is coordinated by the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) through its effector the mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC), an inhibitor of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C, also known as the cyclosome)1,2. Unattached kinetochores control MCC assembly by catalysing a change in the topology of the β-sheet of MAD2 (an MCC subunit), thereby generating the active closed MAD2 (C-MAD2) conformer3-5. Disassembly of free MCC, which is required for SAC inactivation and chromosome segregation, is an ATP-dependent process driven by the AAA+ ATPase TRIP13. In combination with p31comet, an SAC antagonist6, TRIP13 remodels C-MAD2 into inactive open MAD2 (O-MAD2)7-10. Here, we present a mechanism that explains how TRIP13-p31comet disassembles the MCC. Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the TRIP13-p31comet-C-MAD2-CDC20 complex reveal that p31comet recruits C-MAD2 to a defined site on the TRIP13 hexameric ring, positioning the N terminus of C-MAD2 (MAD2NT) to insert into the axial pore of TRIP13 and distorting the TRIP13 ring to initiate remodelling. Molecular modelling suggests that by gripping MAD2NT within its axial pore, TRIP13 couples sequential ATP-driven translocation of its hexameric ring along MAD2NT to push upwards on, and simultaneously rotate, the globular domains of the p31comet-C-MAD2 complex. This unwinds a region of the αA helix of C-MAD2 that is required to stabilize the C-MAD2 β-sheet, thus destabilizing C-MAD2 in favour of O-MAD2 and dissociating MAD2 from p31comet. Our study provides insights into how specific substrates are recruited to AAA+ ATPases through adaptor proteins and suggests a model of how translocation through the axial pore of AAA+ ATPases is coupled to protein remodelling.

Sumoylation promotes optimal APC/C Activation and Timely Anaphase

The Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C) is a ubiquitin E3 ligase that functions as the gatekeeper to mitotic exit. APC/C activity is controlled by an interplay of multiple pathways during mitosis, including the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), that are not yet fully understood. Here, we show that sumoylation of the APC4 subunit of the APC/C peaks during mitosis and is critical for timely APC/C activation and anaphase onset. We have also identified a functionally important SUMO interacting motif in the cullin-homology domain of APC2 located near the APC4 sumoylation sites and APC/C catalytic core. Our findings provide evidence of an important regulatory role for SUMO modification and binding in affecting APC/C activation and mitotic exit.