Plugging it in: signaling circuits and the yeast cell cycle.

Signal transduction pathways provide the means to transmit information and elicit specific responses. Modulation of the cell cycle machinery is one such response. Molecular genetic approaches with budding yeast have been instrumental in elucidating the components of these complex signaling pathways and the inter-relationships among these components. Recent progress has revealed pathways that link extracellular signals with the machinery governing both cell cycle progression and morphogenesis. The nature of the interface between nutritional and checkpoint signals with the cell cycle apparatus is just now emerging.

Regulation of G(1) cyclin-dependent kinases in the mammalian cell cycle.

Cyclin-dependent kinases are the key regulators of cell-cycle transitions. In mammalian cells, Cdk2, Cdk4, Cdk6 and associated cyclins control the G(1) to S phase transition. Because proper regulation of this transition is critical for an organism's survival, these protein kinases are exquisitely regulated at different mechanistic levels and in response to a large variety of intrinsic and extrinsic signals.

Multi-step control of spindle pole body duplication by cyclin-dependent kinase.

Organelles called centrosomes in metazoans or spindle pole bodies (SPBs) in yeast direct the assembly of a bipolar spindle that is essential for faithful segregation of chromosomes during mitosis. Abnormal accumulation of multiple centrosomes leads to genome instability, and has been observed in both tumour cells and cells with targeted mutations in tumour-suppressor genes. The defects that lead to centrosome amplification are not understood. We have recapitulated the multiple-centrosome phenotype in budding yeast by disrupting the activity of specific cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) complexes. Our observations are reminiscent of mechanisms that govern DNA replication, and show that specific cyclin/CDK activities function both to promote SPB duplication and to prevent SPB reduplication.

Mec1p regulates Pds1p levels in S phase: complex coordination of DNA replication and mitosis.

Genetic evidence suggests that the securin Pds1p is the target of a late-S-phase checkpoint control. Here we show that Pds1p becomes essential once two-thirds of the genome has been replicated and that the coupling of the completion of genome replication with mitosis relies on the regulation of Pds1p levels. Mec1p is needed to maintain Pds1p levels under S-phase checkpoint conditions. In contrast, Rad53p and Chk1p, needed for the stabilization of Pds1p in the context of the G2 DNA-damage checkpoint pathway, are dispensable. Thus, the Pds1p-dependent late-S-phase checkpoint pathway couples replication with mitosis but is mechanistically distinct from the G2 DNA-damage checkpoint. Finally, we show that the inhibition of spindle elongation in early S phase, controlled by the Mec1p/Rad53p branch, is not regulated via Pds1p/Esp1p. This can mechanistically explain the need for branched S-phase checkpoint controls.

BED1, a gene encoding a galactosyltransferase homologue, is required for polarized growth and efficient bud emergence in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The ellipsoidal shape of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the result of successive isotropic/apical growth switches that are regulated in a cell cycle-dependent manner. It is thought that growth polarity is governed by the remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton that is itself under the control of the cell cycle machinery. The cell cycle and the morphogenesis cycle are tightly coupled and it has been recently suggested that a morphogenesis/polarity checkpoint control monitors bud emergence in order to maintain the coupling of these two events (Lew, D. J., and S. I. Reed. 1995. J. Cell Biol. 129:739-749). During a screen based on the inability of cells impaired in the budding process to survive when the morphogenesis checkpoint control is abolished, we identified and characterized BED1, a new gene that is required for efficient budding. Cells carrying a disrupted allele of BED1 no longer have the wild-type ellipsoidal shape characteristic of S. cerevisiae, are larger than wild-type cells, are deficient in bud emergence, and depend upon an intact morphogenesis checkpoint control to survive. These cells show defects in polarized growth despite the fact that the actin cytoskeleton appears normal. Our results suggest that Bed1 is a type II membrane protein localized in the endoplasmic reticulum. BED1 is significantly homologous to gma12+, a S. pombe gene coding for an alpha-1,2,-galactosyltransferase, suggesting that glycosylation of specific proteins or lipids could be important for signaling in the switch to polarized growth and in bud emergence.

Morphogenesis in the yeast cell cycle: regulation by Cdc28 and cyclins.

Analysis of cell cycle regulation in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has shown that a central regulatory protein kinase, Cdc28, undergoes changes in activity through the cell cycle by associating with distinct groups of cyclins that accumulate at different times. The various cyclin/Cdc28 complexes control different aspects of cell cycle progression, including the commitment step known as START and mitosis. We found that altering the activity of Cdc28 had profound effects on morphogenesis during the yeast cell cycle. Our results suggest that activation of Cdc28 by G1 cyclins (Cln1, Cln2, or Cln3) in unbudded G1 cells triggers polarization of the cortical actin cytoskeleton to a specialized pre-bud site at one end of the cell, while activation of Cdc28 by mitotic cyclins (Clb1 or Clb2) in budded G2 cells causes depolarization of the cortical actin cytoskeleton and secretory apparatus. Inactivation of Cdc28 following cyclin destruction in mitosis triggers redistribution of cortical actin structures to the neck region for cytokinesis. In the case of pre-bud site assembly following START, we found that the actin rearrangement could be triggered by Cln/Cdc28 activation in the absence of de novo protein synthesis, suggesting that the kinase may directly phosphorylate substrates (such as actin-binding proteins) that regulate actin distribution in cells.

A cell cycle checkpoint monitors cell morphogenesis in budding yeast.

Checkpoint controls are regulatory pathways that inhibit cell cycle progression in cells that have not faithfully completed a prior step in the cell cycle. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, DNA replication and spindle assembly are monitored by checkpoint controls that prevent nuclear division in cells that have failed to complete these processes. During the normal cell cycle, bud formation is temporally coincident with DNA replication and spindle assembly, and the nucleus divides along the mother-bud axis in mitosis. In this report, we show that inhibition of bud formation also causes a dramatic delay in nuclear division. This allows cells to recover from a transient disruption of cell polarity without becoming binucleate. The delay occurs after DNA replication and spindle assembly, and results from delayed activation of the master cell cycle regulatory kinase, Cdc28. Cdc28 activation is inhibited by phosphorylation of Cdc28 on tyrosine 19, and by delayed accumulation of the B-type cyclins Clb1 and Clb2. These results suggest the existence of a novel checkpoint that monitors cell morphogenesis in budding yeast.

Subcellular localization of a protein kinase required for cell cycle initiation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: evidence for an association between the CDC28 gene product and the insoluble cytoplasmic matrix.

The product of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene CDC28, a protein kinase required for initiation of the cell division cycle, was localized within yeast cells. By using immunofluorescence methods, the CDC28 product was shown to be primarily cytoplasmic in distribution. The gene product was localized largely to the particulate fraction by differential centrifugation after mechanical disruption in aqueous buffers. The particulate association was not affected by the presence of nonionic detergent. To refine this localization further, a procedure was developed for the preparation of yeast cytoplasmic matrices which resemble the cytoskeletons of vertebrate cells on the basis of methodology, immunochemistry, and gross ultrastructure. A portion of the CDC28 product was found to be tightly associated with these detergent-insoluble cytoplasmic matrices by both immunofluorescence and immunoblotting procedures. Although, for technical reasons, precise quantitation was not possible, it is estimated that a minimum of 2-15% of the total CDC28 product pool is involved in the association with the insoluble matrix. Alcohol dehydrogenase, a soluble cytoplasmic protein, was found not to be associated with the cytoplasmic matrices at any detectable level, whereas, in contrast, approximately 10-40% of the total cellular actin, a bonafide cytoskeletal protein, was present in these structures. The proportion of CDC28 gene product associated with the particulate fraction, and perhaps the insoluble matrix, appears to be substantially decreased during the preparation of spheroplasts.

Clb5-associated kinase activity is required early in the spindle pathway for correct preanaphase nuclear positioning in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a single cyclin-dependent kinase, Cdc28, regulates both G1/S and G2/M phase transitions by associating with stage-specific cyclins. During progression through S phase and G2/M, Cdc28 is activated by the B-type cyclins Clb1-6. Because of functional redundancy, specific roles for individual Clbs have been difficult to assign. To help genetically define such roles, strains carrying a cdc28(ts) allele, combined with single CLB deletions were studied. We assumed that by limiting the activity of the kinase, these strains would be rendered more sensitive to loss of individual Clbs. By this approach, a novel phenotype associated with CLB5 mutation was observed. Homozygous cdc28-4(ts) clb5 diploids were inviable at room temperature. Cells were defective in spindle positioning, leading to migration of undivided nuclei into the bud. Occasionally, misplaced spindles were observed in cdc28-4 clb5 haploids; additional deletion of CLB6 caused full penetrance. Thus, CLB5 effects proper preanaphase spindle positioning, yet the requirement differs in haploids and diploids. The execution point for the defect corresponded to the time of Clb5-dependent kinase activation. Nevertheless, lethality of cdc28-4 clb5 diploids was not rescued by CLB2 or CLB4 overexpression, indicating a specificity of Clb5 function beyond temporality of expression.

A novel role of the budding yeast separin Esp1 in anaphase spindle elongation: evidence that proper spindle association of Esp1 is regulated by Pds1.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the metaphase-anaphase transition is initiated by the anaphase-promoting complex-dependent degradation of Pds1, whereby Esp1 is activated to promote sister chromatid separation. Although this is a fundamental step in the cell cycle, little is known about the regulation of Esp1 and how loss of cohesion is coordinated with movement of the anaphase spindle. Here, we show that Esp1 has a novel role in promoting anaphase spindle elongation. The localization of Esp1 to the spindle apparatus, analyzed by live cell imaging, is regulated in a manner consistent with a function during anaphase B. The protein accumulates in the nucleus in G2 and is mobilized onto the spindle pole bodies and spindle midzone at anaphase onset, where it persists into midanaphase. Association with Pds1 occurs during S phase and is required for efficient nuclear targeting of Esp1. Spindle association is not fully restored in pds1 mutants expressing an Esp1-nuclear localization sequence fusion protein, suggesting that Pds1 is also required to promote Esp1 spindle binding. In agreement, Pds1 interacts with the spindle at the metaphase-anaphase transition and a fraction remains at the spindle pole bodies and the spindle midzone in anaphase cells. Finally, mutational analysis reveals that the conserved COOH-terminal region of Esp1 is important for spindle interaction.

Coordinated spindle assembly and orientation requires Clb5p-dependent kinase in budding yeast.

The orientation of the mitotic spindle along a polarity axis is critical in asymmetric cell divisions. In the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, loss of the S-phase B-type cyclin Clb5p under conditions of limited cyclin-dependent kinase activity (cdc28-4 clb5Delta cells) causes a spindle positioning defect that results in an undivided nucleus entering the bud. Based on time-lapse digital imaging microscopy of microtubules labeled with green fluorescent protein fusions to either tubulin or dynein, we observed that the asymmetric behavior of the spindle pole bodies during spindle assembly was lost in the cdc28-4 clb5Delta cells. As soon as a spindle formed, both poles were equally likely to interact with the bud cell cortex. Persistent dynamic interactions with the bud ultimately led to spindle translocation across the bud neck. Thus, the mutant failed to assign one spindle pole body the task of organizing astral microtubules towards the mother cell. Our data suggest that Clb5p-associated kinase is required to confer mother-bound behavior to one pole in order to establish correct spindle polarity. In contrast, B-type cyclins, Clb3p and Clb4p, though partially redundant with Clb5p for an early role in spindle morphogenesis, preferentially promote spindle assembly.

Translational control of p27Kip1 accumulation during the cell cycle.

Cell cycle phase transitions in eukaryotic cells are driven by regulation of the activity of protein kinases known as cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks). A broad spectrum of Cdk-inhibitory activity associated with a 28-kilodalton protein (p28lck1) was induced in cells treated with the drug lovastatin or upon density-mediated growth arrest and was periodic in the cell cycle, with peak activity in G1. The p28lck1 protein was shown to be identical to p27Kip1, and the periodic or induced inhibitory activity resulted from a periodic accumulation of the protein. Variations in the amount of p27 protein occurred, whereas the abundance of the p27 messenger RNA remained unchanged. In every instance investigated, the posttranscriptional alteration of p27 protein levels was achieved in part by a mechanism of translational control, although in density-arrested fibroblasts and thymidine-arrested HeLa cells the half-life of the protein was also changed.

Association of human cyclin E with a periodic G1-S phase protein kinase.

G1 cyclins control the G1 to S phase transition in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cyclin E was discovered in the course of a screen for human complementary DNAs that rescue a deficiency of G1 cyclin function in budding yeast. The amounts of both the cyclin E protein and an associated protein kinase activity fluctuated periodically through the human cell cycle; both were maximal in late G1 and early S phases. Cyclin E-associated kinase activity was correlated with the appearance of complexes containing cyclin E and the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk2. Thus, the cyclin E-Cdk2 complex may constitute a human G1-S phase-specific regulatory protein kinase.

Human CksHs2 atomic structure: a role for its hexameric assembly in cell cycle control.

The cell cycle regulatory protein CksHs2 binds to the catalytic subunit of the cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdk's) and is essential for their biological function. The crystal structure of the protein was determined at 2.1 A resolution. The CksHs2 structure is an unexpected hexamer formed by the symmetric assembly of three interlocked dimers into an unusual 12-stranded beta barrel fold that may represent a prototype for this class of protein structures. Sequence-conserved regions form the unusual beta strand exchange between the subunits of the dimer, and the metal and anion binding sites associated with the hexamer assembly. The two other sequence-conserved regions line a 12 A diameter tunnel through the beta barrel and form the six exposed, charged helix pairs. Six kinase subunits can be modeled to bind the assembled hexamer without collision, and therefore this CksHs2 hexamer may participate in cell cycle control by acting as the hub for Cdk multimerization in vivo.

Pheromone signaling pathways in yeast.

The discovery that the transducing G protein of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mating pheromone response figures centrally in signal adaptation was the focus of considerable excitement in the past year. Not only does activated G alpha in this system stimulate an adaptive signal but G beta undergoes a desensitizing phosphorylation in response to pheromone signaling.

Cell cycle control of morphogenesis in budding yeast.

A detailed description of the cytoskeletal rearrangements that orchestrate bud formation is beginning to emerge from studies on yeast morphogenesis. In this review, we focus on recent advances in our understanding of how the timing of these rearrangements is controlled. Dramatic changes in cell polarity that occur in G1 (polarization to the bud site), G2 (depolarization within the bud), and mitosis (repolarization to the mother/bud neck) are triggered by changes in the kinase activity of Cdc28, the universal regulator of cell cycle progression. The hunt for Cdc28 morphogenesis substrates is on.

Deregulated cyclin E promotes p53 loss of heterozygosity and tumorigenesis in the mouse mammary gland.

Deregulation of cyclin E expression and/or high levels have been reported in a variety of tumors and have been used as indicators of poor prognosis. Although the role that cyclin E plays in tumorigenesis remains unclear, there is evidence that it confers genomic instability when deregulated in cultured cells. Here we show that deregulated expression of a hyperstable allele of cyclin E in mice heterozygous for p53 synergistically increases mammary tumorigenesis more than that in mice carrying either of these markers individually. Most tumors and tumor-derived cell lines demonstrated loss of p53 heterozygosity. Furthermore, this tumor susceptibility is related to the number of times the transgene is induced indicating that it is directly attributable to the expression of the cyclin E transgene. An indirect assay indicates that loss of p53 function is an early event occurring in the mammary epithelia of midlactation mammary glands in which cyclin E is deregulated long before evidence of malignancy. These data support the hypothesis that deregulated expression of cyclin E stimulates p53 loss of heterozygosity by promoting genomic instability and provides specific evidence for this in vivo. Cyclin E deregulation and p53 loss are characteristics often observed in human breast carcinoma.

The Pds1 anaphase inhibitor and Mec1 kinase define distinct checkpoints coupling S phase with mitosis in budding yeast.

In most eukaryotic cells, DNA replication is confined to S phase of the cell cycle [1]. During this interval, S-phase checkpoint controls restrain mitosis until replication is complete [2]. In budding yeast, the anaphase inhibitor Pds1p has been associated with the checkpoint arrest of mitosis when DNA is damaged or when mitotic spindles have formed aberrantly [3] [4], but not when DNA replication is blocked with hydroxyurea (HU). Previous studies have implicated the protein kinase Mec1p in S-phase checkpoint control [5]. Unlike mec1 mutants, pds1 mutants efficiently inhibit anaphase when replication is blocked. This does not, however, exclude an essential S-phase checkpoint function of Pds1 beyond the early S-phase arrest point of a HU block. Here, we show that Pds1p is an essential component of a previously unsuspected checkpoint control system that couples the completion of S phase with mitosis. Further, the S-phase checkpoint comprises at least two distinct pathways. A Mec1p-dependent pathway operates early in S phase, but a Pds1p-dependent pathway becomes essential part way through S phase.

G1-specific cyclins: in search of an S-phase-promoting factor.

In budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the two principal cell cycle transitions, from G1 to S phase and from G2 to M phase, are controlled by the same protein from G2 to M phase, are controlled by the same protein kinase, CDC28, a homolog of the cdc2 protein kinase in fission yeast and other organisms. The G1 to S phase activity of the kinase is associated with accumulation of a novel family of G1 cyclins, distinct from cyclins that are required to activate the kinase for G2 to M phase functions. It remains to be determined whether G1 cyclins with similar functions exist in higher cells.

Differential function and expression of Saccharomyces cerevisiae B-type cyclins in mitosis and meiosis.

We have studied the patterns of expression of four B-type cyclins (Clbs), Clb1, Clb2, Clb3, and Clb4, and their ability to activate p34cdc28 during the mitotic and meiotic cell cycles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. During the mitotic cell cycle, Clb3 and Clb4 were expressed and induced a kinase activity in association with p34cdc28 from early S phase up to mitosis. On the other hand, Clb1 and Clb2 were expressed and activated p34cdc28 later in the mitotic cell cycle, starting in late S phase and continuing up to mitosis. The pattern of expression of Clb3 and Clb4 suggests a possible role in the regulation of DNA replication as well as mitosis. Clb1 and Clb2, whose pattern of expression is similar to that of other known Clbs, are likely to have a role predominantly in the regulation of M phase. During the meiotic cell cycle, Clb1, Clb3, and Clb4 were expressed and induced a p34cdc28-associated kinase activity just before the first meiotic division. The fact that Clb3 and Clb4 were not synthesized earlier, in S phase, suggests that these cyclins, which probably have a role in S phase during the mitotic cell cycle, are not implicated in premeiotic S phase. Clb2, the primary mitotic cyclin in S. cerevisiae, was not detectable during meiosis. Sporulation experiments on strains deleted for one, two, or three Clbs indicate, in agreement with the biochemical data, that Clb1 is the primary cyclin for the regulation of meiosis, while Clb2 is not involved at all.