Project description:Initiation of eukaryotic DNA replication requires temporal separation of helicase loading from helicase activation and replisome assembly. Using an in vitro assay for eukaryotic origin-dependent replication initiation, we investigated the control of these events. After helicase loading, we found that the Dbf4-dependent Cdc7 kinase (DDK) initially drives origin recruitment of Sld3 and the Cdc45 helicase-activating protein. Corresponding in vivo studies found that DDK was required for Cdc45 binding at early origins during G1. Upon activation of S-phase cyclin-dependent kinases (S-CDK), a second helicase-activating protein (GINS) and the remainder of the replisome are recruited to the origin. Investigation of DNA polymerase recruitment showed that Mcm10 and DNA unwinding both were critical for recruitment of the lagging but not leading strand DNA polymerases. Our studies identify distinct roles for DDK and S-CDK during helicase activation and support a model in which the leading strand DNA polymerase is recruited prior to DNA unwinding and initial RNA primer synthesis. We performed chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) against Cdc45 in CDC7 and cdc7-4 cells arrested in G1 phase to assess the requirement of the Dbf4-dependent kinase on the recruitment of Cdc45 to origin DNA during G1.
Project description:Initiation of eukaryotic DNA replication requires temporal separation of helicase loading from helicase activation and replisome assembly. Using an in vitro assay for eukaryotic origin-dependent replication initiation, we investigated the control of these events. After helicase loading, we found that the Dbf4-dependent Cdc7 kinase (DDK) initially drives origin recruitment of Sld3 and the Cdc45 helicase-activating protein. Corresponding in vivo studies found that DDK was required for Cdc45 binding at early origins during G1. Upon activation of S-phase cyclin-dependent kinases (S-CDK), a second helicase-activating protein (GINS) and the remainder of the replisome are recruited to the origin. Investigation of DNA polymerase recruitment showed that Mcm10 and DNA unwinding both were critical for recruitment of the lagging but not leading strand DNA polymerases. Our studies identify distinct roles for DDK and S-CDK during helicase activation and support a model in which the leading strand DNA polymerase is recruited prior to DNA unwinding and initial RNA primer synthesis.
Project description:Progress through the division cycle of present day eukaryotic cells is controlled by a complex network consisting of (i) cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and their associated cyclins, (ii) kinases and phosphatases that regulate CDK activity, and (iii) stoichiometric inhibitors that sequester cyclin-CDK dimers. Presumably regulation of cell division in the earliest ancestors of eukaryotes was a considerably simpler affair. Nasmyth (1995) recently proposed a mechanism for control of a putative, primordial, eukaryotic cell cycle, based on antagonistic interactions between a cyclin-CDK and the anaphase promoting complex (APC) that labels the cyclin subunit for proteolysis. We recast this idea in mathematical form and show that the model exhibits hysteretic behaviour between alternative steady states: a Gl-like state (APC on, CDK activity low, DNA unreplicated and replication complexes assembled) and an S/M-like state (APC off, CDK activity high, DNA replicated and replication complexes disassembled). In our model, the transition from G1 to S/M ('Start') is driven by cell growth, and the reverse transition ('Finish') is driven by completion of DNA synthesis and proper alignment of chromosomes on the metaphase plate. This simple and effective mechanism for coupling growth and division and for accurately copying and partitioning a genome consisting of numerous chromosomes, each with multiple origins of replication, could represent the core of the eukaryotic cell cycle. Furthermore, we show how other controls could be added to this core and speculate on the reasons why stoichiometric inhibitors and CDK inhibitory phosphorylation might have been appended to the primitive alternation between cyclin accumulation and degradation.
Project description:Cell-cycle transitions are generally triggered by variations in the activity of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) bound to cyclins. Malaria-causing parasites have evolved unique cell-cycles with a repertoire of ancestral CDKs and cyclins whose functions and interdependency remain elusive. Here, we show that the divergent Plasmodium berghei CDK-related kinase 5 (CRK5), is a critical cell-cycle regulator of gametogony required for transmission to the mosquito. It phosphorylates canonical CDK motifs on components of the pre-replicative complex and is essential for DNA replication. We also provide evidence for indirect regulation of the concomitant progression through M-phase. Over a replicative cycle, CRK5 stably interacts with a single Plasmodium-specific cyclin (SOC2) with no evidence of SOC2 cycling through transcription, translation nor degradation. Our results present evidence that during Plasmodium gametogony, a unique and divergent cyclin/CDK pair evolved to fulfil the functional space of multiple eukaryotic cell-cycle kinases controlling S-phase entry and progression through M-phase.
Project description:The target of rapamycin (TOR) plays a central role in eukaryotic cell growth control. With prevalent hyper-activation of the mTOR pathway in human cancers, novel strategies to enhance TOR pathway inhibition are highly desirable. We used a yeast-based high-throughput chemical genetic screen to identify small-molecule enhancers of rapamycin (SMERs) and used whole genome expression analysis to identify their mechanisms of action.