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Role of calcineurin and Mpk1 in regulating the onset of mitosis in budding yeast

Nature volume 392, pages 303–306 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Signalling via calcium is probably involved in regulating eukaryotic cell proliferation, but details of its mechanism of action are unknown1,2. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the onset of mitosis is determined by activation of a complex of the p34cdc2 protein kinase and a cyclin protein that is specific to the G2 phase of the cell cycle. This activation requires dephosphorylation of p34cdc2 (ref. 3). Wee1, a tyrosine kinase that inhibits p34cdc2 by phosphorylating it, is needed to determine the length of G2 phase. Here we show that calcium-activated pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae control the onset of mitosis by regulating Swe1, a Wee1 homologue. Zds1 (also known as Oss1 and Hst1) (4–7) is important in repressing the transcription of SWE1 in G2 phase. In the presence of high calcium levels, cells lacking Zds1 are delayed in entering mitosis. Calcineurin8,9,10,11 and Mpk1 (refs 12, 13) regulate Swe1 activation at the transcriptional and post-translational levels, respectively, and both are required for the calcium-induced delay in G2 phase. These cellular pathways also induce a G2-phase delay in response to hypotonic shock.

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Figure 1: Ca2+-induced G2 delay in the Δzds1 strain and its suppression by deletion of SWE1, CNB1 and MPK1.
Figure 2: The G2 delay induced by overproduction of a constitutively active form of calcineurin (Cmp2ΔC) or Mpk1 in Δzds1 and Δzds1 Δswe1 cells.
Figure 3: Ca2+-induced activation of transcription of SWE1 in G2.
Figure 4: Hsl1-mediated regulation of Swe1 by Mpk1.
Figure 5: A model of the Ca2+-mediated G2-phase delay in budding yeast.
Figure 6: Hypotonic-shock-induced G2 delay.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Grunstein for the HSL1 disruption plasmid, D. E. Levin for the plasmid containing the gene for HA-tagged Mpk1, and K. Matsumoto and Y. Ohya for discussions.

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  1. Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739, Japan

    Masaki Mizunuma, Dai Hirata, Kohji Miyahara, Eiko Tsuchiya & Tokichi Miyakawa

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Correspondence to Tokichi Miyakawa.

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Mizunuma, M., Hirata, D., Miyahara, K. et al. Role of calcineurin and Mpk1 in regulating the onset of mitosis in budding yeast. Nature 392, 303–306 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/32695

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