Cdc20 protein contains a destruction-box but, unlike Clb2, its proteolysisis not acutely dependent on the activity of anaphase-promoting complex. (1/26)

Both chromosome segregation and the final exit from mitosis require a ubiquitin-protein ligase called anaphase-promoting complex (APC) or cyclosome. This multiprotein complex ubiquitinates various substrates, such as the anaphase inhibitor Pds1 and mitotic cyclins, and thus targets them for proteolysis by the 26S proteasome. The ubiquitination by APC is dependent on the presence of a destruction-box sequence in the N-terminus of target proteins. Recent reports have strongly suggested that Cdc20, a WD40 repeat-containing protein required for nuclear division in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is essential for the APC-mediated proteolysis. To understand the function of CDC20, we have studied its regulation in some detail. The expression of the CDC20 gene is cell-cycle regulated such that it is transcribed only during late S phase and mitosis. Although the protein is unstable to some extent through out the cell cycle, its degradation is particularly enhanced in G1. Cdc20 contains a destruction box sequence which, when mutated or deleted, stabilizes it considerably in G1. Surprisingly, we find that while the inactivation of APC subunits Cdc16, Cdc23 or Cdc27 results in stabilization of the mitotic cyclin Clb2 in G1, the proteolytic destruction of Cdc20 remains largely unaffected. This suggests the existence of proteolytic mechanisms in G1 that can degrade destruction-box containing proteins, such as Cdc20, in an APC-independent manner.  (+info)

Hsl1p, a Swe1p inhibitor, is degraded via the anaphase-promoting complex. (2/26)

Ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of critical cell cycle regulators is a key mechanism exploited by the cell to ensure an irreversible progression of cell cycle events. The anaphase-promoting complex (APC) is a ubiquitin ligase that targets proteins for degradation by the 26S proteasome. Here we identify the Hsl1p protein kinase as an APC substrate that interacts with Cdc20p and Cdh1p, proteins that mediate APC ubiquitination of protein substrates. Hsl1p is absent in G(1), accumulates as cells begin to bud, and disappears in late mitosis. Hsl1p is stabilized by mutations in CDH1 and CDC23, both of which result in compromised APC activity. Unlike Hsl1p, Gin4p and Kcc4p, protein kinases that have sequence homology to Hsl1p, were stable in G(1)-arrested cells containing active APC. Mutation of a destruction box motif within Hsl1p (Hsl1p(db-mut)) stabilized Hsl1p. Interestingly, this mutation also disrupted the Hsl1p-Cdc20p interaction and reduced the association between Hsl1p and Cdh1p in coimmunoprecipitation studies. These findings suggest that the destruction box motif is required for Cdc20p and, to a lesser extent, for Cdh1p to target Hsl1p to the APC for ubiquitination. Hsl1p has been previously shown to inhibit Swe1p, a protein kinase that negatively regulates the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28p, by promoting Swe1p degradation via SCF(Met30) in a bud morphogenesis checkpoint. Results of the present work indicate that Hsl1p is degraded in an APC-dependent manner and suggest a link between the SCF (Skp1-cullin-F box) and APC-proteolytic systems that may help to coordinate the proper progression of cell cycle events.  (+info)

Phosphorylation by Cdc28 activates the Cdc20-dependent activity of the anaphase-promoting complex. (3/26)

Budding yeast initiates anaphase by activating the Cdc20-dependent anaphase-promoting complex (APC). The mitotic activity of Cdc28 (Cdk1) is required to activate this form of the APC, and mutants that are impaired in mitotic Cdc28 function have difficulty leaving mitosis. This defect can be explained by a defect in APC phosphorylation, which depends on mitotic Cdc28 activity in vivo and can be catalyzed by purified Cdc28 in vitro. Mutating putative Cdc28 phosphorylation sites in three components of the APC, Cdc16, Cdc23, and Cdc27, makes the APC resistant to phosphorylation both in vivo and in vitro. The nonphosphorylatable APC has normal activity in G1, but its mitotic, Cdc20-dependent activity is compromised. These results show that Cdc28 activates the APC in budding yeast to trigger anaphase. Previous reports have shown that the budding yeast Cdc5 homologue, Plk, can also phosphorylate and activate the APC in vitro. We show that, like cdc28 mutants, cdc5 mutants affect APC phosphorylation in vivo. However, although Cdc5 can phosphorylate Cdc16 and Cdc27 in vitro, this in vitro phosphorylation does not occur on in vivo sites of phosphorylation.  (+info)

Characterization of Schizosaccharomyces pombe mcm7(+) and cdc23(+) (MCM10) and interactions with replication checkpoints. (4/26)

MCM proteins are required for the proper regulation of DNA replication. We cloned fission yeast mcm7(+) and showed it is essential for viability; spores lacking mcm7(+) begin S phase later than wild-type cells and arrest with an apparent 2C DNA content. We isolated a novel temperature-sensitive allele, mcm7-98, and also characterized two temperature-sensitive alleles of the fission yeast homolog of MCM10, cdc23(+). mcm7-98 and both cdc23ts alleles arrest with damaged chromosomes and an S phase delay. We find that mcm7-98 is synthetically lethal with the other mcmts mutants but does not interact genetically with either cdc23ts allele. However, cdc23-M36 interacts with mcm4ts. Unlike other mcm mutants or cdc23, mcm7-98 is synthetically lethal with checkpoint mutants Deltacds1, Deltachk1, or Deltarad3, suggesting chromosomal defects even at permissive temperature. Mcm7p is a nuclear protein throughout the cell cycle, and its localization is dependent on the other MCM proteins. Our data suggest that the Mcm3p-Mcm5p dimer interacts with the Mcm4p-Mcm6p-Mcm7p core complex through Mcm7p.  (+info)

Polo boxes and Cut23 (Apc8) mediate an interaction between polo kinase and the anaphase-promoting complex for fission yeast mitosis. (5/26)

The fission yeast plo1(+) gene encodes a polo-like kinase, a member of a conserved family of kinases which play multiple roles during the cell cycle. We show that Plo1 kinase physically interacts with the anaphase-promoting complex (APC)/cyclosome through the noncatalytic domain of Plo1 and the tetratricopeptide repeat domain of the subunit, Cut23. A new cut23 mutation, which specifically disrupts the interaction with Plo1, results in a metaphase arrest. This arrest can be rescued by high expression of Plo1 kinase. We suggest that this physical interaction is crucial for mitotic progression by targeting polo kinase activity toward the APC.  (+info)

The Cdc23 (Mcm10) protein is required for the phosphorylation of minichromosome maintenance complex by the Dfp1-Hsk1 kinase. (6/26)

Previous studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae have defined an essential role for the Dbf4-Cdc7 kinase complex in the initiation of DNA replication presumably by phosphorylation of target proteins, such as the minichromosome maintenance (Mcm) complex. We have examined the phosphorylation of the Mcm complex by the Dfp1-Hsk1 kinase, the Schizosaccharomyces pombe homologue of Dbf4-Cdc7. In vitro, the purified Dfp1-Hsk1 kinase efficiently phosphorylated Mcm2p. In contrast, Mcm2p, present in the six-subunit Mcm complex, was a poor substrate of this kinase and required Cdc23p (homologue of Mcm10p) for efficient phosphorylation. In the presence of Cdc23p, Dfp1-Hsk1 phosphorylated the Mcm2p and Mcm4p subunits of the Mcm complex. Cdc23p interacted with both the Mcm complex and Dfp1-Hsk1 by selectively binding to the Mcm467 subunits and Dfp1p, respectively. The N terminus of Cdc23p was found to interact directly with Dfp1-Hsk1 and was essential for phosphorylation of the Mcm complex. Truncated derivatives of Cdc23p that complemented the temperature-sensitive phenotype of cdc23 mutant cells also stimulated the phosphorylation of Mcm complex, implying that this activity might be a critical role of Cdc23p in vivo. These results suggest that Cdc23p participates in the activation of prereplicative complex by recruiting the Dfp1-Hsk1 kinase and stimulating the phosphorylation of the Mcm complex.  (+info)

Mnd2 and Swm1 are core subunits of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae anaphase-promoting complex. (7/26)

The anaphase-promoting complex (APC) is a multisubunit E3 ubiquitin ligase that regulates the metaphase-anaphase transition and exit from mitosis in eukaryotic cells. Eleven subunits have been previously identified in APC from budding yeast. We have identified two additional subunits, Mnd2 and Swm1, by mass spectrometry. Both Mnd2 and Swm1 were found specifically associated with a highly purified preparation of APC from haploid yeast whole cell extract. Moreover, the APC co-purified with epitope-tagged Mnd2 and Swm1. Both proteins were present in APC preparations from haploid cells arrested in G(1), S, and M phases and from meiotic diploid cells, indicating that they are constitutive components of the complex throughout the yeast cell cycle. Mnd2 interacted strongly with Cdc23, Apc5, and Apc1 when coexpressed in an in vitro transcription/translation reaction. Swm1 also interacted with Cdc23 and Apc5 in this system. Previous studies described meiotic defects for mutations in MND2 and SWM1. Here, we show that mnd2delta and swm1delta haploid strains exhibit slow growth and accumulation of G(2)/M cells comparable with that seen in apc9delta or apc10Delta strains and consistent with an APC defect. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Swm1 and Mnd2 are functional components of the yeast APC.  (+info)

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 oncoprotein tax promotes unscheduled degradation of Pds1p/securin and Clb2p/cyclin B1 and causes chromosomal instability. (8/26)

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the causative agent of adult T-cell leukemia. The HTLV-1 transactivator, Tax, is implicated as the viral oncoprotein. Naive cells expressing Tax for the first time develop severe cell cycle abnormalities that include increased DNA synthesis, mitotic arrest, appearance of convoluted nuclei with decondensed DNA, and formation of multinucleated cells. Here we report that Tax causes a drastic reduction in Pds1p/securin and Clb2p/cyclin B levels in yeast, rodent, and human cells and a loss of cell viability. With a temperature-sensitive mutant of the CDC23 subunit of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC), cdc23(ts); a temperature-sensitive mutant of cdc20; and a cdh1-null mutant, we show that the diminution of Pds1p and Clb2p brought on by Tax is mediated via the Cdc20p-associated anaphase-promoting complex, APC(Cdc20p). This loss of Pds1p/securin and Clb2p/cyclin B1 occurred before cellular entry into mitosis, caused a G(2)/M cell cycle block, and was accompanied by severe chromosome aneuploidy in both Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells and human diploid fibroblasts. Our results support the notion that Tax aberrantly targets and activates APC(Cdc20p), leading to unscheduled degradation of Pds1p/securin and Clb2p/cyclin B1, a delay or failure in mitotic entry and progression, and faulty chromosome transmission. The chromosomal instability resulting from a Tax-induced deficiency in securin and cyclin B1 provides an explanation for the highly aneuploid nature of adult T-cell leukemia cells.  (+info)