The many phases of anaphase

Budding yeast Swe1 is involved in the control of mitotic spindle elongation and is regulated by Cdc14 phosphatase during mitosis

Cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk1) activity is required for mitotic entry, and this event is restrained by an inhibitory phosphorylation of the catalytic subunit Cdc28 on a conserved tyrosine (Tyr(19)). This modification is brought about by the protein kinase Swe1 that inhibits Cdk1 activation thus blocking mitotic entry. Swe1 levels are regulated during the cell cycle, and they decrease during G2/M concomitantly to Cdk1 activation, which drives entry into mitosis. However, after mitotic entry, a pool of Swe1 persists, and we collected evidence that it is involved in controlling mitotic spindle elongation. We also describe that the protein phosphatase Cdc14 is implicated in Swe1 regulation; in fact, we observed that Swe1 dephosphorylation in vivo depends on Cdc14 that, in turn, is able to control its subcellular localization. In addition we show that the lack of Swe1 causes premature mitotic spindle elongation and that high levels of Swe1 block mitotic spindle elongation, indicating that Swe1 inhibits this process. Importantly, these effects are not dependent upon the role of in Cdk1 inhibition. These data fit into a model in which Cdc14 binds and inhibits Swe1 to allow timely mitotic spindle elongation.

Comparative analysis of chromosome segregation in human, yeasts and trypanosome

Chromosome segregation is a tightly regulated process through which duplicated genetic materials are equally partitioned into daughter cells. During the past decades, tremendous efforts have been made to understand the molecular mechanism of chromosome segregation using animals and yeasts as model systems. Recently, new insights into chromosome segregation have gradually emerged using trypanosome, an early branching parasitic protozoan, as a model organism. To uncover the unique aspects of chromosome segregation in trypanosome, which potentially could serve as new drug targets for anti-trypanosome chemotherapy, it is necessary to perform a comparative analysis of the chromosome segregation machinery between trypanosome and its human host. Here, we briefly review the current knowledge about chromosome segregation in human and Trypanosoma brucei, with a focus on the regulation of cohesin and securin degradation triggered by the activation of the anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C). We also include yeasts in our comparative analysis since some of the original discoveries were made using budding and fission yeasts as the model organisms and, therefore, these could provide hints about the evolution of the machinery. We highlight both common and unique features in these model systems and also provide perspectives for future research in trypanosome.

Auxin and the ubiquitin pathway. Two players-one target: the cell cycle in action

Plants are sessile organisms that have to adapt their growth to the surrounding environment. Concomitant with this adaptation capability, they have adopted a post-embryonic development characterized by continuous growth and differentiation abilities. Constant growth is based on the potential of stem cells to divide almost incessantly and on a precise balance between cell division and cell differentiation. This balance is influenced by environmental conditions and by the genetic information of the cell. Among the internal cues, the cross-talk between different hormonal signalling pathways is essential to control this division/differentiation equilibrium. Auxin, one of the most important plant hormones, regulates cell division and differentiation, among many other processes. Amazing advances in auxin signal transduction at the molecular level have been reported, but how this signalling is connected to the cell cycle is, so far, not well known. Auxin signalling involves the auxin-dependent degradation of transcription repressors by F-box-containing E3 ligases of ubiquitin. Recently, SKP2A, another F-box protein, was shown to bind auxin and to target cell-cycle repressors for proteolysis, representing a novel mechanism that links auxin to cell division. In this review, a general vision of what is already known and the most recent advances on how auxin signalling connects to cell division and the role of the ubiquitin pathway in plant cell cycle will be covered.

OSD1 promotes meiotic progression via APC/C inhibition and forms a regulatory network with TDM and CYCA1;2/TAM

Cell cycle control is modified at meiosis compared to mitosis, because two divisions follow a single DNA replication event. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) promote progression through both meiosis and mitosis, and a central regulator of their activity is the APC/C (Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome) that is especially required for exit from mitosis. We have shown previously that OSD1 is involved in entry into both meiosis I and meiosis II in Arabidopsis thaliana; however, the molecular mechanism by which OSD1 controls these transitions has remained unclear. Here we show that OSD1 promotes meiotic progression through APC/C inhibition. Next, we explored the functional relationships between OSD1 and the genes known to control meiotic cell cycle transitions in Arabidopsis. Like osd1, cyca1;2/tam mutation leads to a premature exit from meiosis after the first division, while tdm mutants perform an aberrant third meiotic division after normal meiosis I and II. Remarkably, while tdm is epistatic to tam, osd1 is epistatic to tdm. We further show that the expression of a non-destructible CYCA1;2/TAM provokes, like tdm, the entry into a third meiotic division. Finally, we show that CYCA1;2/TAM forms an active complex with CDKA;1 that can phosphorylate OSD1 in vitro. We thus propose that a functional network composed of OSD1, CYCA1;2/TAM, and TDM controls three key steps of meiotic progression, in which OSD1 is a meiotic APC/C inhibitor.

In the life cycle of sexual organisms, a specialized cell division—meiosis—reduces the number of chromosomes from two sets (2n, diploid) to one set (n, haploid), while fertilization restores the original chromosome number. Meiosis reduces ploidy because it consists of two cellular divisions following a single DNA replication. In this study, we analyze the function of a group of genes that collectively controls the entry into the first meiotic division, the entry into the second meiotic division, and the exit from meiosis in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We revealed a complex regulation network that controls these three key transitions.

Intracellular partitioning of cell organelles and extraneous nanoparticles during mitosis

The nucleocytoplasmic partitioning of nanoparticles as a result of cell division is highly relevant to the field of nonviral gene delivery. We reviewed the literature on the intracellular distribution of cell organelles (the endosomal vesicles, Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum and nucleus), foreign macromolecules (dextrans and plasmid DNA) and inorganic nanoparticles (gold, quantum dot and iron oxide) during mitosis. For nonviral gene delivery particles (lipid- or polymer-based), indirect proof of nuclear entry during mitosis is provided. We also describe how retroviruses and latent DNA viruses take advantage of mitosis to transfer their viral genome and segregate their episomes into the host daughter nuclei. Based on this knowledge, we propose strategies to improve nonviral gene delivery in dividing cells with the ultimate goal of designing nonviral gene delivery systems that are as efficient as their viral counterparts but non-immunogenic, non-oncogenic and easy and inexpensive to prepare.

Cdc28 provides a molecular link between Hsp90, morphogenesis, and cell cycle progression in Candida albicans

The molecular chaperone Hsp90 regulates morphogenesis of the leading human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Hsp90 inhibition induces filaments with a delay in mitotic exit mediated by the checkpoint protein Bub2. Hsp90 depletion destabilizes the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28, providing a link between Hsp90, cell cycle regulation, and morphogenesis.

The trimorphic fungus Candida albicans is the leading cause of systemic candidiasis, a disease with poor prognosis affecting immunocompromised individuals. The capacity of C. albicans to transition between morphological states is a key determinant of its ability to cause life-threatening infection. Recently the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) was implicated as a major regulator of temperature-dependent C. albicans morphogenesis; compromising Hsp90 function induces filamentation and relieves repression of Ras1–protein kinase A (PKA) signaling, although the mechanism involved remains unknown. Here we demonstrate that filaments generated by compromise of Hsp90 function are neither pseudohyphae nor hyphae but closely resemble filaments formed in response to cell cycle arrest. Closer examination revealed that these filaments exhibit a delay in mitotic exit mediated by the checkpoint protein Bub2. Furthermore, Hsp90 inhibition also led to a distinct morphology with defects in cytokinesis. We found that the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28 was destabilized in response to depletion of Hsp90 and that Cdc28 physically interacts with Hsp90, implicating this major cell cycle regulator as a novel Hsp90 client protein in C. albicans. Taken together, our results suggest that Hsp90 is instrumental in the regulation of cell division during yeast-form growth in C. albicans and exerts its major effects during late cell cycle events.

Meiotic progression in Arabidopsis is governed by complex regulatory interactions between SMG7, TDM1, and the meiosis I-specific cyclin TAM

Meiosis is a modified cell division that produces four haploid nuclei from a single diploid cell in two rounds of chromosome segregation. Here, we analyze the role of Arabidopsis thaliana SUPPRESSOR WITH MORPHOGENETIC EFFECTS ON GENITALIA7 (SMG7), THREE DIVISION MUTANT1 (TDM1), and TARDY ASYNCHRONOUS MEIOSIS (TAM) in meiotic progression. SMG7 is a conserved nonsense-mediated mRNA decay factor that is also, in Arabidopsis, essential for completion of meiosis. Examination of activating CYCLIN DEPENDENT KINASE A;1 phosophorylation at Thr-161 suggests that the meiotic arrest observed in smg7 mutants is likely caused by a failure to downregulate cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activity at the end of the second meiotic division. Genetic analysis indicates that SMG7 and TDM1 act in the same pathway to facilitate exit from meiosis. We further demonstrate that the cyclin TAM is specifically expressed in meiosis I and has both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on progression to meiosis II. TAM knockouts skip the second meiotic division producing unreduced gametes, but inactivation of SMG7 or TDM1 alleviates TAM's requirement for entry into meiosis II. We propose a model that meiotic progression in Arabidopsis pollen mother cells is driven by a yet to be identified cyclin-CDK activity that is modulated by regulatory interactions between TDM1, SMG7, and TAM.

Self-organization of intracellular gradients during mitosis

Gradients are used in a number of biological systems to transmit spatial information over a range of distances. The best studied are morphogen gradients where information is transmitted over many cell lengths. Smaller mitotic gradients reflect the need to organize several distinct events along the length of the mitotic spindle. The intracellular gradients that characterize mitosis are emerging as important regulatory paradigms. Intracellular gradients utilize intrinsic auto-regulatory feedback loops and diffusion to establish stable regions of activity within the mitotic cytosol. We review three recently described intracellular mitotic gradients. The Ran GTP gradient with its elaborate cascade of nuclear transport receptors and cargoes is the best characterized, yet the dynamics underlying the robust gradient of Ran-GTP have received little attention. Gradients of phosphorylation have been observed on Aurora B kinase substrates both before and after anaphase onset. In both instances the phosphorylation gradient appears to result from a soluble gradient of Aurora B kinase activity. Regulatory properties that support gradient formation are highlighted. Intracellular activity gradients that regulate localized mitotic events bare several hallmarks of self-organizing biologic systems that designate spatial information during pattern formation. Intracellular pattern formation represents a new paradigm in mitotic regulation.

Functional characterization of cohesin subunit SCC1 in Trypanosoma brucei and dissection of mutant phenotypes in two life cycle stages

In yeast and metazoa, structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) complexes play key roles in chromosome segregation, architecture and DNA repair. The main function of the cohesin complex is to hold replicated sister chromatids together until segregation at anaphase, which is dependent on proteolytic cleavage of the cohesin subunit SCC1. Analysis of trypanosomatid genomes showed that the core cohesin and condensin complexes are conserved, but SMC5/6 is absent. To investigate the functional conservation of cohesin in eukaryotes distantly related to yeast and metazoa, we characterized the Trypanosoma brucei SCC1 orthologue. TbSCC1 is expressed prior to DNA synthesis at late G1, remains in the nucleus throughout S- and G2-phases of the cell cycle and disappears at anaphase. Depletion of SCC1 by RNAi or expression of a non-cleavable SCC1 resulted in karyokinesis failure. Using the dominant negative phenotype of non-cleavable SCC1 we investigated checkpoint regulation of cytokinesis in response to mitosis failure at anaphase. In the absence of chromosome segregation, procyclic trypanosomes progressed through cytokinesis to produce one nucleated and one anucleate cell (zoid). In contrast, cytokinesis was incomplete in bloodstream forms, where cleavage was initiated but cells failed to progress to abscission. Kinetoplast duplication was uninterrupted resulting in cells with multiple kinetoplasts and flagella.

Arabidopsis SMG7 protein is required for exit from meiosis

Meiosis consists of two nuclear divisions that are separated by a short interkinesis. Here we show that the SMG7 protein, which plays an evolutionarily conserved role in nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) in animals and yeast, is essential for the progression from anaphase to telophase in the second meiotic division in Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis SMG7 is an essential gene, the disruption of which causes embryonic lethality. Plants carrying a hypomorphic smg7 mutation exhibit an elevated level of transcripts containing premature stop codons. This suggests that the role of SMG7 in NMD is conserved in plants. Furthermore, hypomorphic smg7 alleles render mutant plants sterile by causing an unusual cell-cycle arrest in anaphase II that is characterized by delayed chromosome decondensation and aberrant rearrangement of the meiotic spindle. The smg7 phenotype was mimicked by exposing meiocytes to the proteasome inhibitor MG115. Together, these data indicate that SMG7 counteracts cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activity at the end of meiosis, and reveal a novel link between SMG7 and regulation of the meiotic cell cycle.

Cortical granule exocytosis in C. elegans is regulated by cell cycle components including separase

In many organisms, cortical granules undergo exocytosis following fertilization, releasing cargo proteins that modify the extracellular covering of the zygote. We identified cortical granules in Caenorhabditis elegans and have found that degranulation occurs in a wave that initiates in the vicinity of the meiotic spindle during anaphase I. Previous studies identified genes that confer an embryonic osmotic sensitivity phenotype, thought to result from abnormal eggshell formation. Many of these genes are components of the cell cycle machinery. When we suppressed expression of several of these genes by RNAi, we observed that cortical granule trafficking was disrupted and the eggshell did not form properly. We conclude that osmotic sensitivity phenotypes occur because of defects in trafficking of cortical granules and the subsequent formation of an impermeable eggshell. We identified separase as a key cell cycle component that is required for degranulation. Separase localized to cortically located filamentous structures in prometaphase I upon oocyte maturation. After fertilization, separase disappeared from these structures and appeared on cortical granules by anaphase I. RNAi of sep-1 inhibited degranulation in addition to causing extensive chromosomal segregation failures. Although the temperature-sensitive sep-1(e2406) allele exhibited similar inhibition of degranulation, it had minimal effects on chromosome segregation. These observations lead us to speculate that SEP-1 has two separable yet coordinated functions: to regulate cortical granule exocytosis and to mediate chromosome separation.

Contribution of anaphase B to chromosome separation in higher plant cells estimated by image processing

Anaphase can be categorized into the two subphases of anaphase A and B, but anaphase B has not been clearly described in higher plant cells. In this study, we time-sequentially followed the dynamics of chromosome segregation and spindle elongation in tobacco BY-2 cells using histone-red fluorescent protein (RFP) and green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tubulin, respectively. Construction of kymographs and determination of the positions of chromosomes and spindle edges by image processing revealed that anaphase B contributed to about 40% of the chromosome separation in distance, which is comparable with that in animal cells. These results suggest that higher plant cells potentially possess the process of anaphase B.

The yeast DNA damage checkpoint proteins control a cytoplasmic response to DNA damage

A single HO endonuclease-induced double-strand break (DSB) is sufficient to activate the DNA damage checkpoint and cause Saccharomyces cells to arrest at G(2)/M for 12-14 h, after which cells adapt to the presence of the DSB and resume cell cycle progression. The checkpoint signal leading to G(2)/M arrest was previously shown to be nuclear-limited. Cells lacking ATR-like Mec1 exhibit no DSB-induced cell cycle delay; however, cells lacking Mec1's downstream protein kinase targets, Rad53 or Chk1, still have substantial G(2)/M delay, as do cells lacking securin, Pds1. This delay is eliminated only in the triple mutant chk1Delta rad53Delta pds1Delta, suggesting that Rad53 and Chk1 control targets other than the stability of securin in enforcing checkpoint-mediated cell cycle arrest. The G(2)/M arrest in rad53Delta and chk1Delta revealed a unique cytoplasmic phenotype in which there are frequent dynein-dependent excursions of the nucleus through the bud neck, without entering anaphase. Such excursions are infrequent in wild-type arrested cells, but have been observed in cells defective in mitotic exit, including the semidominant cdc5-ad mutation. We suggest that Mec1-dependent checkpoint signaling through Rad53 and Chk1 includes the repression of nuclear movements that are normally associated with the execution of anaphase.

The origin recognition complex functions in sister-chromatid cohesion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

High-fidelity chromosomal segregation requires the properly timed establishment of sister-chromatid cohesion mediated by the Cohesin complex, and its resolution at the metaphase-to-anaphase transition. We have examined cell-cycle progression in a yeast strain from which the origin recognition complex protein Orc2 was depleted after the assembly of prereplication complexes. We find that Orc2 depletion causes a delay in progression through mitosis, reflecting activation of both the DNA-damage and Mad2-spindle checkpoints. Surprisingly, sister-chromatid cohesion is impaired in Orc2-depleted cells, although Cohesin subunits are properly associated with chromatin. Reexpression of Orc2 in late G2/M phase restores chromatid cohesion. Finally, the targeting of Orc2 to a specific chromosomal locus suppresses premature sister-chromatid separation locally in a temperature-sensitive cohesin mutant. We conclude that ORC mediates sister-chromatid interaction on a pathway that is additive with Cohesin-mediated pairing.