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The Journal of Biological Chemistry Jul 2019Cell division is a highly regulated and carefully orchestrated process. Understanding the mechanisms that promote proper cell division is an important step toward... (Review)
Review
Cell division is a highly regulated and carefully orchestrated process. Understanding the mechanisms that promote proper cell division is an important step toward unraveling important questions in cell biology and human health. Early studies seeking to dissect the mechanisms of cell division used classical genetics approaches to identify genes involved in mitosis and deployed biochemical approaches to isolate and identify proteins critical for cell division. These studies underscored that post-translational modifications and cyclin-kinase complexes play roles at the heart of the cell division program. Modern approaches for examining the mechanisms of cell division, including the use of high-throughput methods to study the effects of RNAi, cDNA, and chemical libraries, have evolved to encompass a larger biological and chemical space. Here, we outline some of the classical studies that established a foundation for the field and provide an overview of recent approaches that have advanced the study of cell division.
Topics: Animals; Cell Division; DNA, Complementary; Humans; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Proteomics; RNA Interference
PubMed: 31175154
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.AW119.008149 -
Yeast (Chichester, England) Jan 2021Cellular quiescence, the temporary and reversible exit from proliferative growth, is the predominant state of all cells. However, our understanding of the biological... (Review)
Review
Cellular quiescence, the temporary and reversible exit from proliferative growth, is the predominant state of all cells. However, our understanding of the biological processes and molecular mechanisms that underlie cell quiescence remains incomplete. As with the mitotic cell cycle, budding and fission yeast are preeminent model systems for studying cellular quiescence owing to their rich experimental toolboxes and the evolutionary conservation across eukaryotes of pathways and processes that control quiescence. Here, we review current knowledge of cell quiescence in budding yeast and how it pertains to cellular quiescence in other organisms, including multicellular animals. Quiescence entails large-scale remodeling of virtually every cellular process, organelle, gene expression, and metabolic state that is executed dynamically as cells undergo the initiation, maintenance, and exit from quiescence. We review these major transitions, our current understanding of their molecular bases, and highlight unresolved questions. We summarize the primary methods employed for quiescence studies in yeast and discuss their relative merits. Understanding cell quiescence has important consequences for human disease as quiescent single-celled microbes are notoriously difficult to kill and quiescent human cells play important roles in diseases such as cancer. We argue that research on cellular quiescence will be accelerated through the adoption of common criteria, and methods, for defining cell quiescence. An integrated approach to studying cell quiescence, and a focus on the behavior of individual cells, will yield new insights into the pathways and processes that underlie cell quiescence leading to a more complete understanding of the life cycle of cells. TAKE AWAY: Quiescent cells are viable cells that have reversibly exited the cell cycle Quiescence is induced in response to a variety of nutrient starvation signals Quiescence is executed dynamically through three phases: initiation, maintenance, and exit Quiescence entails large-scale remodeling of gene expression, organelles, and metabolism Single-cell approaches are required to address heterogeneity among quiescent cells.
Topics: Cell Division; Resting Phase, Cell Cycle; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomycetales; Schizosaccharomyces; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 33350503
DOI: 10.1002/yea.3545 -
Trends in Cell Biology Sep 2022Cell-cycle progression and division are fundamental biological processes in animal cells, and their biochemical regulation has been extensively studied. An emerging body... (Review)
Review
Cell-cycle progression and division are fundamental biological processes in animal cells, and their biochemical regulation has been extensively studied. An emerging body of work has revealed how mechanical interactions of cells with their microenvironment in tissues, including with the extracellular matrix (ECM) and neighboring cells, also plays a crucial role in regulating cell-cycle progression and division. We review recent work on how cells interpret physical cues and alter their mechanics to promote cell-cycle progression and initiate cell division, and then on how dividing cells generate forces on their surrounding microenvironment to successfully divide. Finally, the article ends by discussing how force generation during division potentially contributes to larger tissue-scale processes involved in development and homeostasis.
Topics: Animals; Cell Division; Extracellular Matrix; Homeostasis; Mechanotransduction, Cellular
PubMed: 35491306
DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2022.03.010 -
Cells Jan 2023Cells are equipped with a diverse network of signaling and regulatory proteins that function as cell cycle regulators and checkpoint proteins to ensure the proper... (Review)
Review
Cells are equipped with a diverse network of signaling and regulatory proteins that function as cell cycle regulators and checkpoint proteins to ensure the proper progression of cell division. A key regulator of cell division is polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), a member of the serine/threonine kinase family that plays an important role in regulating the mitotic and meiotic cell cycle. The phosphorylation of specific substrates mediated by PLK1 controls nuclear envelope breakdown (NEBD), centrosome maturation, proper spindle assembly, chromosome segregation, and cytokinesis. In mammalian oogenesis, PLK1 is essential for resuming meiosis before ovulation and for establishing the meiotic spindle. Among other potential roles, PLK1 regulates the localized translation of spindle-enriched mRNAs by phosphorylating and thereby inhibiting the translational repressor 4E-BP1, a downstream target of the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway. In this review, we summarize the functions of PLK1 in mitosis, meiosis, and cytokinesis and focus on the role of PLK1 in regulating mRNA translation. However, knowledge of the role of PLK1 in the regulation of meiosis remains limited.
Topics: Female; Humans; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Cell Cycle Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Meiosis; Mitosis; Polo-Like Kinase 1
PubMed: 36611980
DOI: 10.3390/cells12010187 -
Journal of Integrative Plant Biology Feb 2023Asymmetric cell division (ACD) is a fundamental process that generates new cell types during development in eukaryotic species. In plant development, post-embryonic... (Review)
Review
Asymmetric cell division (ACD) is a fundamental process that generates new cell types during development in eukaryotic species. In plant development, post-embryonic organogenesis driven by ACD is universal and more important than in animals, in which organ pattern is preset during embryogenesis. Thus, plant development provides a powerful system to study molecular mechanisms underlying ACD. During the past decade, tremendous progress has been made in our understanding of the key components and mechanisms involved in this important process in plants. Here, we present an overview of how ACD is determined and regulated in multiple biological processes in plant development and compare their conservation and specificity among different model cell systems. We also summarize the molecular roles and mechanisms of the phytohormones in the regulation of plant ACD. Finally, we conclude with the overarching paradigms and principles that govern plant ACD and consider how new technologies can be exploited to fill the knowledge gaps and make new advances in the field.
Topics: Animals; Asymmetric Cell Division; Plants; Plant Development; Plant Growth Regulators; Cell Polarity
PubMed: 36610013
DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13446 -
Blood Mar 2023
Topics: Tetraspanins; Cell Division
PubMed: 36893005
DOI: 10.1182/blood.2022019518 -
ELife Oct 2023Experiments on tropical trees suggest that new mutations in plants are driven by age rather than number of cell divisions during growth.
Experiments on tropical trees suggest that new mutations in plants are driven by age rather than number of cell divisions during growth.
Topics: Mutation; Plants; Trees; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Tropical Climate; Cell Division; Plant Senescence
PubMed: 37819030
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.89706 -
Asian Journal of Andrology 2021Repairing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) with homologous chromosomes as templates is the hallmark of meiosis. The critical outcome of meiotic homologous recombination... (Review)
Review
Repairing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) with homologous chromosomes as templates is the hallmark of meiosis. The critical outcome of meiotic homologous recombination is crossovers, which ensure faithful chromosome segregation and promote genetic diversity of progenies. Crossover patterns are tightly controlled and exhibit three characteristics: obligatory crossover, crossover interference, and crossover homeostasis. Aberrant crossover patterns are the leading cause of infertility, miscarriage, and congenital disease. Crossover recombination occurs in the context of meiotic chromosomes, and it is tightly integrated with and regulated by meiotic chromosome structure both locally and globally. Meiotic chromosomes are organized in a loop-axis architecture. Diverse evidence shows that chromosome axis length determines crossover frequency. Interestingly, short chromosomes show different crossover patterns compared to long chromosomes. A high frequency of human embryos are aneuploid, primarily derived from female meiosis errors. Dramatically increased aneuploidy in older women is the well-known "maternal age effect." However, a high frequency of aneuploidy also occurs in young women, derived from crossover maturation inefficiency in human females. In addition, frequency of human aneuploidy also shows other age-dependent alterations. Here, current advances in the understanding of these issues are reviewed, regulation of crossover patterns by meiotic chromosomes are discussed, and issues that remain to be investigated are suggested.
Topics: Cell Division; Chromosome Segregation; Humans; Meiosis; Recombination, Genetic
PubMed: 33533735
DOI: 10.4103/aja.aja_86_20 -
Development (Cambridge, England) Jun 2020Asymmetric cell division (ACD) is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism used by prokaryotes and eukaryotes alike to control cell fate and generate cell diversity. A... (Review)
Review
Asymmetric cell division (ACD) is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism used by prokaryotes and eukaryotes alike to control cell fate and generate cell diversity. A detailed mechanistic understanding of ACD is therefore necessary to understand cell fate decisions in health and disease. ACD can be manifested in the biased segregation of macromolecules, the differential partitioning of cell organelles, or differences in sibling cell size or shape. These events are usually preceded by and influenced by symmetry breaking events and cell polarization. In this Review, we focus predominantly on cell intrinsic mechanisms and their contribution to cell polarization, ACD and binary cell fate decisions. We discuss examples of polarized systems and detail how polarization is established and, whenever possible, how it contributes to ACD. Established and emerging model organisms will be considered alike, illuminating both well-documented and underexplored forms of polarization and ACD.
Topics: Animals; Asymmetric Cell Division; Cell Differentiation; Cell Membrane; Cell Polarity; Humans
PubMed: 32601056
DOI: 10.1242/dev.167650 -
The Journal of Biological Chemistry Sep 2020Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of biomolecules drives the formation of subcellular compartments with distinct physicochemical properties. These compartments, free... (Review)
Review
Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of biomolecules drives the formation of subcellular compartments with distinct physicochemical properties. These compartments, free of lipid bilayers and therefore called membraneless organelles, include nucleoli, centrosomes, heterochromatin, and centromeres. These have emerged as a new paradigm to account for subcellular organization and cell fate decisions. Here we summarize recent studies linking LLPS to mitotic spindle, heterochromatin, and centromere assembly and their plasticity controls in the context of the cell division cycle, highlighting a functional role for phase behavior and material properties of proteins assembled onto heterochromatin, centromeres, and central spindles via LLPS. The techniques and tools for visualizing and harnessing membraneless organelle dynamics and plasticity in mitosis are also discussed, as is the potential for these discoveries to promote new research directions for investigating chromosome dynamics, plasticity, and interchromosome interactions in the decision-making process during mitosis.
Topics: Cell Division; Decision Making; Humans; Liquid-Liquid Extraction; Mitosis; Organelles
PubMed: 32699013
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.REV120.011746