Checkpoint on the nuclear frontier (original) (raw)

Cell cycle

Nature volume 397, pages 104–105 (1999)Cite this article

Space is set to be the next frontier in cell-cycle research. Until now, the focus has been on how the cell cycle is regulated in time, by the synthesis and destruction of regulatory proteins such as the cyclins. But this is a one-dimensional view, and there is increasing evidence that the cell cycle is controlled by localizing specific regulators to the right place at the right time. An example of this is reported by Paul Russell and colleagues1 on page 172 of this issue. They show that, in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the Cdc25 phosphatase — an essential regulator of mitosis — is exported from the nucleus in response to DNA damage. Export separates Cdc25 from its substrate, the cyclin B/Cdc2 kinase, thereby stopping cells from entering mitosis. Moreover, Cdc25 is exported from the nucleus by association with a protein called Rad24, which acts as an attachable nuclear-export sequence.

To maintain the integrity of the genome, DNA must be fully replicated and undamaged before mitosis can begin. So, the initiation of mitosis is carefully regulated, and the essential elements have been conserved through evolution2. The main target of this regulation is cyclin B/Cdc2. During interphase, this complex is kept inactive by the wee1 kinase, which phosphorylates Cdc2 on a conserved tyrosine residue (Y15) in the ATP-binding site. To initiate mitosis, the phosphate is then removed by Cdc25. DNA damage prevents cells from entering mitosis by enhancing phosphorylation of Y15, so keeping the cyclin B/Cdc2 turned off. This arrests the cells in the G2 phase at the ‘DNA-damage checkpoint’ (reviewed in ref. 3).

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Figure 1: Regulation of mitosis in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

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  1. the Wellcome/CRC Institute, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QR, UK
    Jonathon Pines

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Pines, J. Checkpoint on the nuclear frontier.Nature 397, 104–105 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/16344

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