Mitosis Transition Research Articles

Chromosome Gene, Hsl7 Gene in Vitro Studies

Chromosome gene can expression many functions in human body. Eukaryotic cells are presence in yeast and human, in order to more understanding human gene, we use yeast as a model to research. The ORF (open reading frame) position of the Hsl7 gene is in yeast Saccharomyces YBR133C between 501804bp~504287bp of Chromosome II, with a total length of 2483bp, and the protein size is 95 kDa. Hsl7 gene is a methyltransferase. Protein-arginine N-methyltransferase involved in protein catabolism and regulation of the G2/M transition of mitosis; localizes to the septin collar of the bud neck, and the outer plaque of the spindle pole body in the G1 phase of the cell cycle (Saccharomyces Genome Database), Hsl7 (histone synthetic lethal 7) represent protein methylation, protein methylation is a type of post-translational modification that involves the addition of methyl groups to proteins, Protein methylation, including histone methylation and non-histone protein methylation, is one of the most important forms of posttranscriptional and epigenetic modifications.

A novel transcription factor, BmZFP67, regulates endomitosis switch by controlling the expression of cyclin B in silk glands

Endomitosis is involved in developmental processes associated with an increase in metabolic cell activity, which is characterized by repeated rounds of DNA replication without cytokinesis. Endomitosis cells are widespread in protozoa, plants, animals and humans. Endomitosis cell cycle is currently viewed as a variation of the canonical cell cycle and transformed from mitotic cell cycle. However, the meaningful question about how endomitosis transformed from mitosis is still unclear. Herein, we identified a novel transcription factor in silk glands, ZFP67, which is gradually reduced in silk glands during the transition of mitosis to endomitosis. In addition, over-expressed ZFP67 in silk glands led to the transition delayed. And, knock-out of ZFP67 led to abnormal chromatin division and unsuccessful cell division. These data reveled that ZFP67 played an important role in transition of mitosis to endomitosis. Furthermore, ZFP67 can regulate the transcription of cyclin B, a key cyclin related to cell division and G2/M phase, which is demonstrated by chromatin immunoprecipitation and dual luciferase reporter system in this article. In conclusion, it can be speculated that the decreasing expression of ZFP67 in silk glands during the transition stage of mitosis-to-endomitosis resulted in the lack of cyclin B, which further led to unsuccessful cytokinesis and then promoted the transition from mitosis to endomitosis of silk gland cells.

Licensing instead of fueling: Glutamine synthetase promotes mitotic progression via a non-metabolic mechanism

A recent report published in Nature Metabolism identified that glutamine synthetase (GS), the only enzyme in mammals to produce glutamine from glutamate, can directly control cancer cell mitosis by governing the APC/C complex via a metabolism-independent mechanism. It reported that GS can directly interact with the nuclear pore protein NUP88 to abolish its binging with CDC20, therefore licensing the activation of APC/CCDC20 to permit proper metaphase to anaphase transition of mitosis. These findings illustrated a dual-function mode of action of GS in cancer cells, in which GS’s metabolic and non-metabolic functions coordinate with the concentration change of glutamine in the tumor microenvironment (TME) to ensure cell survival or proliferation, respectively. These findings revealed the multi-faceted roles of glutamine synthetase in tumor development and underscored the potential to target non-canonical functions of glutamine synthetase for cancer treatment.

Revealing microcystin-LR ecotoxicity to earthworm (Eisenia fetida) at the intestinal cell level

Potential adverse effects of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) on soil invertebrates have not been studied. Here we investigated the mechanism of MC-LR toxicity to earthworm (Eisenia fetida) intestine at the individual level and at the cellular level. The results showed an inverse relationship between the bodyweight and survival rate of earthworms over exposure time- and MC-LR doses in soil. Dose-dependent intestinal lesions and disturbances of enzymatic activities (e.g., cellulase, Na+/K+-ATPase, and AChE) were observed, which resulted in intestinal dysfunction. Excessive reactive oxygen species generation led to DNA damage and lipid peroxidation of intestinal cells. The oxidative damage to DNA prolonged cell cycle arrest at the G2/M-phase transition in mitosis, thus stimulating and accelerating apoptosis in earthworm intestine. MC-LR target earthworm intestine tissue. MC-LR at low concentrations can damage earthworm intestine regardless of exposure routes (oral or contact). High toxicity of MC-LR to earthworms delineates its ecological risks to terrestrial ecosystems.

A quantitative and spatial analysis of cell cycle regulators during the fission yeast cycle

We have carried out a systems-level analysis of the spatial and temporal dynamics of cell cycle regulators in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. In a comprehensive single-cell analysis, we have precisely quantified the levels of 38 proteins previously identified as regulators of the G2 to mitosis transition and of 7 proteins acting at the G1- to S-phase transition. Only 2 of the 38 mitotic regulators exhibit changes in concentration at the whole-cell level: the mitotic B-type cyclin Cdc13, which accumulates continually throughout the cell cycle, and the regulatory phosphatase Cdc25, which exhibits a complex cell cycle pattern. Both proteins show similar patterns of change within the nucleus as in the whole cell but at higher concentrations. In addition, the concentrations of the major fission yeast cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) Cdc2, the CDK regulator Suc1, and the inhibitory kinase Wee1 also increase in the nucleus, peaking at mitotic onset, but are constant in the whole cell. The significant increase in concentration with size for Cdc13 supports the view that mitotic B-type cyclin accumulation could act as a cell size sensor. We propose a two-step process for the control of mitosis. First, Cdc13 accumulates in a size-dependent manner, which drives increasing CDK activity. Second, from mid-G2, the increasing nuclear accumulation of Cdc25 and the counteracting Wee1 introduce a bistability switch that results in a rapid rise of CDK activity at the end of G2 and thus, brings about an orderly progression into mitosis.

CENPF/CDK1 signaling pathway enhances the progression of adrenocortical carcinoma by regulating the G2/M-phase cell cycle

BackgroundAdrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an aggressive and rare malignant tumor and is prone to local invasion and metastasis. And, overexpressed Centromere Protein F (CENPF) is closely related to the oncogenesis of various neoplasms, including ACC. However, the prognosis and exact biological function of CENPF in ACC remains largely unclear.MethodsIn the present essay, the expression patterns and prognostic value of CENPF in ACC were investigated in clinical specimens and public cancer databases, including GEO and TCGA. The potential signaling mechanism of CENPF in ACC was studied based on gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Furthermore, a small RNA interference experiment was conducted to probe the underlying biological function of CENPF in the human ACC cell line, SW13 cells. Lastly, two available therapeutic strategies, including immunotherapy and chemotherapy, have been further explored.ResultsThe expression of CENPF in human ACC samples, GEO, and TCGA databases depicted that CENPF was overtly hyper-expressed in ACC patients and positively correlated with tumor stage. The aberrant expression of CENPF was significantly correlated with unfavorable overall survival (OS) in ACC patients. Then, the GSEA analysis declared that CENPF was mainly involved in the G2/M-phase mediated cell cycle and p53 signaling pathway. Further, the in vitro experiment demonstrated that the interaction between CENPF and CDK1 augmented the G2/M-phase transition of mitosis, cell proliferation and might induce p53 mediated anti-tumor effect in human ACC cell line, SW13 cells. Lastly, immune infiltration analysis highlighted that ACC patients with high CENPF expression harbored significantly different immune cell populations, and high TMB/MSI score. The gene-drug interaction network stated that CENPF inhibitors, such as Cisplatin, Sunitinib, and Etoposide, might serve as potential drugs for the therapy of ACC.ConclusionThe result points out that CENPF is significantly overexpressed in ACC patients. The overexpressed CENPF predicts a poor prognosis of ACC and might augment the progress of ACC. Thus, CENPF and related genes might serve as a novel prognostic biomarker or latent therapeutic target for ACC patients.

Differential Transcriptional Reprogramming by Wild Type and Lymphoma-Associated Mutant MYC Proteins as B-Cells Convert to a Lymphoma Phenotype.

Simple SummaryOncogenic transformation in response to the activation of MYC requires secondary events that reduce the role of MYC as an inducer of apoptosis and cellular senescence. We made a primary B-cell model in which such secondary processes were reduced and MYC levels could be regulated at the transcriptional level. We studied the changes in transcriptional programs as MYC levels were progressively increased, causing a simultaneous transition to a lymphoma cell phenotype. Two lymphoma-associated MYC mutants (resulting in the substitution of threonine 58 with isoleucine, T58I, or alanine, T58A) were also analyzed and compared with each other and wild type MYC. All three MYC proteins induced cell cycle entry, cell growth and cell proliferation with associated changes in gene expression programs. The MYC-regulated genes overlap with MYC target genes in B-cells during normal activation. A minority of the MYC-regulated genes (enriched in specific aspects of the cell cycle) were regulated significantly differently by the mutant MYC proteins compared to wild type MYC and in most cases between the two mutant MYC proteins. These genes did not overlap significantly with the set of genes regulated during B-cell activation, and may be specific to oncogenesis. Many target genes were more sensitive to regulation by T58A and less sensitive to T58I, compared to wild type MYC, as was also seen for the measured phenotypic processes. This, taken together with the different sets of genes that are differentially regulated by each mutant in relation to wild type MYC, indicates that the mutations augment the oncogenic activity of MYC by different mechanisms. The different effects of the mutations may result from the different effects they are predicted to have on the conformational properties of the intrinsically disordered region of the MYC protein that surrounds the threonine 58 residue.The MYC transcription factor regulates a vast number of genes and is implicated in many human malignancies. In some hematological malignancies, MYC is frequently subject to missense mutations that enhance its transformation activity. Here, we use a novel murine cell system to (i) characterize the transcriptional effects of progressively increasing MYC levels as normal primary B-cells transform to lymphoma cells and (ii) determine how this gene regulation program is modified by lymphoma-associated MYC mutations (T58A and T58I) that enhance its transformation activity. Unlike many previous studies, the cell system exploits primary B-cells that are transduced to allow regulated MYC expression under circumstances where apoptosis and senescence pathways are abrogated by the over-expression of the Bcl-xL and BMI1 proteins. In such cells, transition from a normal to a lymphoma phenotype is directly dependent on the MYC expression level, without a requirement for secondary events that are normally required during MYC-driven oncogenic transformation. A generalized linear model approach allowed an integrated analysis of RNA sequencing data to identify regulated genes in relation to both progressively increasing MYC level and wild type or mutant status. Using this design, a total of 7569 regulated genes were identified, of which the majority (n = 7263) were regulated in response to progressively increased levels of wild type MYC, while a smaller number of genes (n = 917) were differentially regulated, compared to wild type MYC, in T58A MYC- and/or T58I MYC-expressing cells. Unlike most genes that are similarly regulated by both wild type and mutant MYC genes, the set of 917 genes did not significantly overlap with known lipopolysaccharide regulated genes, which represent genes regulated by MYC in normal B cells. The genes that were differently regulated in cells expressing mutant MYC proteins were significantly enriched in DNA replication and G2 phase to mitosis transition genes. Thus, mutants affecting MYC proteins may augment quantitative oncogenic effects on the expression of normal MYC-target genes with qualitative oncogenic effects, by which sets of cell cycle genes are abnormally targeted by MYC as B cells transition into lymphoma cells. The T58A and T58I mutations augment MYC-driven transformation by distinct mechanisms.

EMS1/DLL4-Notch Signaling Axis Augments Cell Cycle-Mediated Tumorigenesis and Progress in Human Adrenocortical Carcinoma.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignant neoplasm that is prone to local invasion and metastasis. Meanwhile, overexpressed endothelial cell-specific molecule 1 (ESM1) is closely related to tumorigenesis of multitudinous tumors. However, the prognosis value and biological function of ESM1 in ACC remains undefined. In the current essay, the assessment in human ACC samples and multiple public cancer databases suggested that ESM1 was significantly overexpressed in ACC patients. The abnormal expression of ESM1 was evidently correlated with dismal overall survival (OS) in ACC patients. Then, the gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was applied to unravel that ESM1 was mostly involved in cell cycle and Notch4 signaling pathway. Furthermore, in vitro experiment, RNA interference of ESM1 was carried out to state that ESM1 augments CDK1 and p21-mediated G2/M-phase transition of mitosis, cell proliferation via DLL4-Notch signaling pathway in human ACC cell line, SW13 cells. Additionally, two possible or available therapeutic strategies, including immunotherapy and chemotherapy, have been further explored. Immune infiltration analysis highlighted that no significant difference was found in ACC patients between EMS1high and EMS1low group for immune checkpoint-related genes. In addition, the overexpression of ESM1 might trigger the accumulation of tumor mutation burden (TMB) during the cell cycle of DNA replication in ACC. The gene-drug interaction network then indicated that ESM1 inhibitors, such as cisplatin, might serve as potential drugs for the therapy of ACC. Collectively, the results asserted that ESM1 and related regulators might act as underlying prognostic biomarkers or novel therapeutic targets for ACC.

Centromere Protein F (CENPF) Serves as a Potential Prognostic Biomarker and Target for Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Overexpression of Centromere Protein F (CENPF) is associated with tumorigenesis of many human malignant tumors. But the molecular mechanism and prognostic value of CENPF in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still unclear. In this essay, expression of CENPF in HCC tumors were evaluated in a series of databases, including GEO, TCGA, Oncomine, GEPIA, The Human Protein Atlas and Kaplan-Meier plotter. It was apparent that mRNA and protein expression levels of CENPF were significantly increased in patients with HCC and were manifestly associated with the tumor stage of HCC. Aberrant expressions of CENPF were significantly linked with worse overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in HCC patients. Then, immunohistochemistry of CENPF in human HCC samples was carried out to suggest that CENPF protein was over-expressed in HCC tissues, compared with paired adjacent non-cancerous samples. And small interfering RNAs of CENPF in the human HepG2 cells were further performed to reveal that down-regulation of CENPF significantly inhibited cell proliferation, cell migration, and cell invasion, but slightly promoted cell apoptosis in human HepG2 cells. Moreover, the gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to probe the biology process and molecular signaling pathway of CENPF in HCC. The GSEA analysis pointed out that CENPF was principally enriched in cell cycle and closely related to E2F1 and CDK1 in the regulation of cell cycle, especially during G2/M transition of mitosis in HCC. Additionally, immune infiltration analysis by CIBERSORTx revealed that mutilpe immune cells, including Treg, etc., were significantly different in HCC samples with CENPFhigh, compared with CENPFlow. These results collectively demonstrated that CENPF might serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and novel therapeutic target for HCC. However, further research is needed to validate our findings and promote the clinical application of CENPF in HCC.

Integrative analyses of noncoding RNAs reveal the potential mechanisms augmenting tumor malignancy in lung adenocarcinoma.

Precise noncoding RNA (ncRNA)-based network prediction is necessary to reveal ncRNA functions and pathological mechanisms. Here, we established a systemic pipeline to identify prognostic ncRNAs, predict their functions and explore their pathological mechanisms in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). After in silico and experimental validation based on evaluations of prognostic value in multiple LUAD cohorts, we selected the PTTG3P pseudogene from among other prognostic ncRNAs (MIR497HG, HSP078, TBX5-AS1, LOC100506990 and C14orf64) for mechanistic studies. PTTG3P upregulation in LUAD cells shortens the metaphase to anaphase transition in mitosis, increases cell viability after cisplatin or paclitaxel treatment, facilitates tumor growth that leads to poor survival in orthotopic lung models, and is associated with a poor survival rate in LUAD patients in the TCGA cohort who received chemotherapy. Mechanistically, PTTG3P acts as an ncRNA that interacts with the transcription factor FOXM1 to regulate the transcriptional activation of the mitotic checkpoint kinase BUB1B, which augments tumor growth and chemoresistance and leads to poor outcomes for LUAD patients. Overall, we established a systematic strategy to uncover prognostic ncRNAs with functional prediction methods suitable for pan-cancer studies. Moreover, we revealed that PTTG3P, due to its upregulation of the PTTG3P/FOXM1/BUB1B axis, could be a therapeutic target for LUAD patients.

Inhibition of MELK produces potential anti-tumour effects in bladder cancer by inducing G1/S cell cycle arrest via the ATM/CHK2/p53 pathway.

We aimed to investigate the biological function of MELK and the therapeutic potential of OTSSP167 in human bladder cancer (BCa). First, we observed overexpression of MELK in BCa cell lines and tissues and found that it was associated with higher tumour stage and tumour grade, which was consistent with transcriptome analysis. High expression of MELK was significantly correlated with poor prognosis in BCa patients, and MELK was found to have a role in the cell cycle, the G1/S transition in mitosis, and DNA repair and replication. Furthermore, BCa cells presented significantly decreased proliferation capacity following silencing of MELK or treatment with OTSSP167 in vitro and in vivo. Functionally, reduction in MELK or treatment of cells with OTSSP167 could induce cell cycle arrest and could suppress migration. In addition, these treatments could activate phosphorylation of ATM and CHK2, which would be accompanied by down‐regulated MDMX, cyclin D1, CDK2 and E2F1; however, p53 and p21 would be activated. Opposite results were observed when MELK expression was induced. Overall, MELK was found to be a novel oncogene in BCa that induces cell cycle arrest via the ATM/CHK2/p53 pathway. OTSSP167 displays potent anti‐tumour activities, which may provide a new molecule‐based strategy for BCa treatment.

MASTL(Greatwall) regulates DNA damage responses by coordinating mitotic entry after checkpoint recovery and APC/C activation

The G2 DNA damage checkpoint is one of the most important mechanisms controlling G2–mitosis transition. The kinase Greatwall (MASTL in human) promotes normal G2–mitosis transition by inhibiting PP2A via ARPP19 and ENSA. In this study, we demonstrate that MASTL is critical for maintaining genome integrity after DNA damage. Although MASTL did not affect the activation of DNA damage responses and subsequent repair, it determined the timing of entry into mitosis and the subsequent fate of the recovering cells. Constitutively active MASTL promoted dephosphorylation of CDK1Tyr15 and accelerated mitotic entry after DNA damage. Conversely, downregulation of MASTL or ARPP19/ENSA delayed mitotic entry. Remarkably, APC/C was activated precociously, resulting in the damaged cells progressing from G2 directly to G1 and skipping mitosis all together. Collectively, these results established that precise control of MASTL is essential to couple DNA damage to mitosis through the rate of mitotic entry and APC/C activation.

Targeting the Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C) in Multiple Myeloma

The discovery of novel agents such as the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib has significantly increased the survival of multiple myeloma (MM) patients. However MM remains an incurable disease mainly due to relapse, associated with significant resistance to therapy including bortezomib. Therefore further investigation to elucidate the disease and the mechanisms leading to drug resistance is necessary.The success of bortezomib highlights the importance of the ubiquitin-proteasomal system (UPS) in MM. The UPS regulates protein turnover and plays a key role is several cellular processes such as apoptosis, cell cycle progression, cell proliferation and DNA replication. The Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase protein complex involved in controlling cell cycle progression. The regulation of APC/C is dependent on 2 co-activators: Cdc20 and Cdh1. The APCCdc20 complex is controlling the metaphase to anaphase transition in mitosis, while APCCdh1 controls mitotic exit and early G1 phase. During metaphase, the activity of APCCdc20 is inhibited by the spindle assembly checkpoint. When all kinetochores are properly attached, the spindle assembly checkpoint is silenced and APCCdc20 becomes activated. When APCCdc20is active, cell cycle proteins are targeted for degradation by the proteasome such as securin and cyclin A and B leading to mitotic exit. Recent studies described that spindle assembly checkpoint is defective in MM cells and that patient samples after chemotherapy and at relapse displayed an increased chromosomal instability signature including Cdc20.The aim of our study is to elucidate the importance and therapeutic potential of APC/C and its co-activators Cdc20 and Cdh1 in MM. Analysis of gene expression in the data of Zhan et al. (Blood 108, 2020-8, 2006) revealed that the co-activator Cdc20 was higher expressed in certain MM sub-groups (PR, MS, CD1, MF) compared to healthy bone marrow plasma cells. Moreover, high Cdc20 expression is correlated with poor prognosis. Cdh1 on the other hand was significantly lower expressed in all MM sub-groups compared to healthy bone marrow plasma cells. Interestingly, lower Cdh1 expression is correlated with poor prognosis. Next, we analyzed whether blocking APC/C would affect MM cells. For this study the pro-drug of TAME (tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester) that has been described as an inhibitor of the APC/C, was used. When the human myeloma cell lines LP-1 and RPMI-8226 were treated with proTAME, an accumulation of the APCCdc20 substrate cyclin B1 was seen already after 6 hours. However the levels of Skp2, an APCCdh1 substrate, were not affected by proTAME treatment. This suggests that proTAME inhibits the APCCdc20 complex but not the APCCdh1complex. We morphologically assessed the effect on number of metaphases on May-Grünwald Giemsa stained cytospins. ProTAME clearly induced an accumulation of LP-1 and RPMI-8226 cells in metaphase. Since a metaphase arrest can lead to cell death, we investigated the effect of proTAME on the viability and apoptosis. A significant dose-dependent decrease in viability and increase in apoptosis was observed after treatment with proTAME of human myeloma cell lines and primary MM cells purified from human and 5T33MM diseased mice. In contrast, other cells from the bone marrow microenvironment were not affected upon proTAME treatment. The induction of apoptosis was accompanied with caspase 3, 8, 9 and PARP cleavage. Western Blot analysis also showed phosphorylation of H2AX suggesting DNA damage upon proTAME treatment. Previous studies showed that MM is a heterogeneous disease consisting of a bulk CD138+ population and a minor CD138- population which is less sensitivity to drugs such as bortezomib. Interestingly, treatment of CD138+/- 5T33MM cells with proTAME demonstrated an equal targeting of both populations.From these results we can conclude that overexpression of Cdc20 by MM cells is correlated with a bad prognosis. Inhibition of APCCdc20 results in a metaphase arrest in MM cells which is associated with reduced viability and induction of apoptosis. Moreover, APC/C inhibition equally targets CD138+ and the more resistant CD138- 5T33MM cells. This study suggests that APC/C and its co-activator Cdc20 could be a new and promising target in MM. DisclosuresNo relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

A Structural Systems Biology Approach for Quantifying the Systemic Consequences of Missense Mutations in Proteins

Gauging the systemic effects of non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) is an important topic in the pursuit of personalized medicine. However, it is a non-trivial task to understand how a change at the protein structure level eventually affects a cell's behavior. This is because complex information at both the protein and pathway level has to be integrated. Given that the idea of integrating both protein and pathway dynamics to estimate the systemic impact of missense mutations in proteins remains predominantly unexplored, we investigate the practicality of such an approach by formulating mathematical models and comparing them with experimental data to study missense mutations. We present two case studies: (1) interpreting systemic perturbation for mutations within the cell cycle control mechanisms (G2 to mitosis transition) for yeast; (2) phenotypic classification of neuron-related human diseases associated with mutations within the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. We show that the application of simplified mathematical models is feasible for understanding the effects of small sequence changes on cellular behavior. Furthermore, we show that the systemic impact of missense mutations can be effectively quantified as a combination of protein stability change and pathway perturbation.

Effects of tyrosine kinase and phosphatase inhibitors on mitosis progression in synchronized tobacco BY-2 cells

To test whether reversible tubulin phosphorylation plays any role in the process of plant mitosis the effects of inhibitors of tyrosine kinases, herbimycin A, genistein and tyrphostin AG 18, and of an inhibitor of tyrosine phosphatases, sodium orthovanadate, on microtubule organization and mitosis progression in a synchronized BY-2 culture has been investigated. It was found that treatment with inhibitors of tyrosine kinases of BY-2 cells at the G2/M transition did not lead to visible disturbances of mitotic microtubule structures, while it did reduce the frequency of their appearance. We assume that a decreased tyrosine phosphorylation level could alter the microtubule dynamic instability parameters during interphase/prophase transition. All types of tyrosine kinase inhibitors used caused a prophase delay: herbimycin A and genistein for 2 h, and tyrphostin AG18 for 1 h. Thereafter the peak of mitosis was displaced for 1 h by herbimycin A or genistein exposure, but after tyrphostin AG18 treatment the timing of the mitosis-peak was comparable to that in control cells. Enhancement of tyrosine phosphorylation induced by the tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor resulted in the opposite effect on BY-2 mitosis transition. Culture treatment with sodium orthovanadate during 1 h resulted in an accelerated start of the prophase and did not lead to the alteration in time of the mitotic index peak formation, as compared to control cells. We suppose that the reversible tyrosine phosphorylation can be involved in the regulation of interphase to M phase transition possibly through regulation of microtubule dynamics in plant cells.

A systematic screen reveals new elements acting at the G2/M cell cycle control

BackgroundThe major cell cycle control acting at the G2 to mitosis transition is triggered in all eukaryotes by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe the activation of the G2/M CDK is regulated primarily by dephosphorylation of the conserved residue Tyr15 in response to the stress-nutritional response and cell geometry sensing pathways. To obtain a more complete view of the G2/M control we have screened systematically for gene deletions that advance cells prematurely into mitosis.ResultsA screen of 82% of fission yeast non-essential genes, comprising approximately 3,000 gene deletion mutants, identified 18 genes that act negatively at mitotic entry, 7 of which have not been previously described as cell cycle regulators. Eleven of the 18 genes function through the stress response and cell geometry sensing pathways, both of which act through CDK Tyr15 phosphorylation, and 4 of the remaining genes regulate the G2/M transition by inputs from hitherto unknown pathways. Three genes act independently of CDK Tyr15 phosphorylation and define additional uncharacterized molecular control mechanisms.ConclusionsDespite extensive investigation of the G2/M control, our work has revealed new components of characterized pathways that regulate CDK Tyr15 phosphorylation and new components of novel mechanisms controlling mitotic entry.

Abstract 685: PTX-008 antiproliferative effects in cancer cells are mediated though galectin-1 inhibition and MAPK-dependent G2/M cell cycle arrest

Abstract Background. Galectin-1 is a multifunctional protein involved in various aspects of tumorigenesis and has been described as a promising cancer target. PTX-008, a small molecule interacting with galectin-1, is currently investigated as an anticancer agent in various preclinical models. The aim of the present study was to study molecular mechanism associated with the cellular effects of PTX-008 in cancer cells. Materials and Methods. Antiproliferative effects were evaluated in a panel of 20 human cancer cell lines by MTT assay. Effects of PTX-008 on cell cycle and protein expression were assessed by flow cytometry and western blot analysis, respectively. mRNA expression was evaluated with qRT-PCR. Results. PTX-008 induces potent antiproliferative effects in our panel of cell lines at concentrations ranging 1-27µM. Interestingly, exposure to PTX-008 for >48 hours inhibits galectin-1 protein level. Furthermore, we have found a clear correlation between low expression of mRNA and proteins levels of galectin-1 and PTX-008 sensitivity in a panel of 20 cancer cell lines (R2=0.59, p<0.05). However, inhibition of galectin-1 by shRNA in SQ20B cells led to no significantly changed PTX-008 antiproliferative activity suggesting that PTX-008 may not exclusively act thought galectin-1 protein down expression. Previous studies showed that galectin-1 might interact with H-RAS and K-RAS, regulating the magnitude of MAPK signal output. In RAS/RAF wild-type SQ20B cells, exposure to 3µM PTX-008 for >5 hours inhibits pERK1/2, pAKT, and pS6, suggesting the important role of MAPK and AKT/mTOR in downstream signalling of galectin-1 in our model. Cell cycle analysis of SQ20B treated with PTX-008 showed a dose-dependent accumulation in G2/M phase without apoptosis induction. Consistent with the inhibition in G2 to mitosis transition, PTX008-induced cell cycle changes were associated with a decrease of Wee1 and an increase of Cdc2 phosphorylation but no inactivation of cdc25C. Inhibition of MAPK with UO126 abolished PTX-008 inhibition of cdc2 reinforcing the important role of MAPK-inhibition in cellular effects of PTX-008. Conclusion. Our findings show that PTX-008 inhibits cancer cells proliferation by interacting with galectin-1, blocking G2/M transition, and inhibiting MAPK signalling pathways. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 685. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-685

G2 checkpoint‐dependent DNA repair and its response to catalase in Down syndrome and control lymphocyte cultures

The amount of DNA lesions repaired in G2 and also G2 timing are controlled by the DNA damage-dependent checkpoint. Down syndrome (DS) lymphocytes showed twice as much constitutive DNA damage in G2 than control ones, when recording it as chromosomal aberrations in metaphase, after caffeine-induced checkpoint abrogation. During G2, DS lymphocytes repaired 1.5 times more DNA lesions than control ones. However the DS cells displayed a decreased threshold for checkpoint adaptation, as the spontaneous override of the G2 to mitosis transition block induced by the checkpoint took place in the DS cells when they had three times more DNA lesions than controls. Catalase addition to cultures scavenges hydrogen peroxide diffused from cells, resulting in subsequent intracellular depletion (Antunes and Cadenas, 2000). The intracellular H2O2 level seemed to regulate the G2 checkpoint. Thus, in controls, H2O2 depletion (induced by 3.2-50 microg/mL catalase) prevented its functioning: chromosomal damage increased while G2 shortened. Conversely, in the DS lymphocytes, 12.5 microg/mL catalase lengthened G2 and decreased chromosomal damage, in spite that the amount of DNA repaired in G2 was half of that repaired in the catalase-free DS lymphocytes.

Discrete States of a Protein Interaction Network Govern Interphase and Mitotic Microtubule Dynamics

The cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells is thought to adopt discrete “states” corresponding to different steady states of protein networks that govern changes in subcellular organization. For example, in Xenopus eggs, the interphase to mitosis transition is induced solely by activation of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) that phosphorylates many proteins leading to a reorganization of the nucleus and assembly of the mitotic spindle. Among these changes, the large array of stable microtubules that exists in interphase is replaced by short, highly dynamic microtubules in metaphase. Using a new visual immunoprecipitation assay that quantifies pairwise protein interactions in a non-perturbing manner in Xenopus egg extracts, we reveal the existence of a network of interactions between a series of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). In interphase, tubulin interacts with XMAP215, which is itself interacting with XKCM1, which connects to APC, EB1, and CLIP170. In mitosis, tubulin interacts with XMAP215, which is connected to EB1. We show that in interphase, microtubules are stable because the catastrophe-promoting activity of XKCM1 is inhibited by its interactions with the other MAPs. In mitosis, microtubules are short and dynamic because XKCM1 is free and has a strong destabilizing activity. In this case, the interaction of XMAP215 with EB1 is required to counteract the strong activity of XKCM1. This provides the beginning of a biochemical description of the notion of “cytoplasmic states” regarding the microtubule system.

Cortex, a Drosophila gene required to complete oocyte meiosis, is a member of the Cdc20/fizzy protein family

Mutations in cortex and grauzone cause abnormal arrest in Drosophila female meiosis. cortex was mapped to a 14 kb interval in 26F-27A by the male recombination mapping method. While these experiments mapped the gene accurately, they also illustrated some complexities of this method. Rescue results showed that a 2.8 kb genomic fragment from this interval was able to fully rescue the cortex phenotype. The 2.8 kb rescuing fragment contains a single open reading frame. The predicted amino acid sequence indicates that cortex encodes a WD-repeat protein and is a distant member of the Cdc20 protein family. Results from a developmental Northern analysis showed that the cortex transcript is expressed at high levels during oogenesis and early embryogenesis. Interestingly, the meiotic metaphase-anaphase II arrest defect in embryos laid by cortex homozygous females resembles the mitotic metaphase-anaphase defects observed in yeast cdc20 mutants. The predicted nature of the Cortex protein, together with the observed meiotic phenotype in cortex mutants, suggest that a similar pathway to the cdc20 dependent APC-mediated proteolysis pathway, which governs the metaphase-anaphase transition in mitosis, is also important in regulating oocyte meiosis.