The Cell Cycle Flashcards
What is the different types of division?
*Cloning cells of a given type to make tissues
*Making cells of different types (differentiation) – might involve asymmetric divisions
*Making cells with half normal DNA content (meiosis)
What is the purpose of the cell cycle?
To allow a cell to reproduce
Why is the cell cycle important?
*Required for growth, development, and procreation
*High fidelity required to ensure stable inheritance of cell and organism characteristics
*Most be controlled to allow development and prevent disease
What needs to happen to carry out a cell cycle?
Chromosomes need to be duplicated
Other organelles need to copied
Cells need to grow
Chromosomes need to be segregated accurately
Cell needs to physically divide
What are the basic stages of the cell cycle?
G1: Gap 1
S: Synthesis
G2: Gap 2
M: Mitosis
G0: resting state
What is G1 ?
In the cell cycle
- Deciding if conditions are right for a full cell cycle
- Growing and preparing for DNA synthesis
What is the S phase?
Replicating DNA and centrosomes
What is the G2 phase?
Deciding if conditions are right for mitosis
What is the M phase?
Chromosome segregation and cytokinesis.
What is the G0 phase?
Cells not in the cell cycle
- Terminally differentiated cells
- Quiescent cells
- Senescent cells
What are Quiescent cells?
Quiescent cells are in an inactive stage.
Cells enter into the quiescent state due to lack of nutrition and growth factors.
What are the characteristic of Quiescent cells?
Quiescent cells are characterized by a low RNA content, lack of cell proliferation markers and increased label retention, indicating low cell turnover.
What are Senescent cells?
A senescent cell is one whose life cycle has come to a permanent end.
What drives the cell cycle?
Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks).
What are Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks)?
- Protein kinases that transfer a phosphate onto their substrates
- Act as “master regulators”
- Have multiple target proteins to control numerous processes in the cell cycle
How are Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) activated?
Cdks have little activity by themselves, but they are activated by Cyclin proteins.
How do Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) drive the cell cycle?
Cyclins influence the substrate specificity of Cdks.
When are G1/S-cyclin levels at their highest?
G1 phase.
When are S-cyclin levels at their highest?
G1 to M phase.
When are M-cyclin levels at their highest?
G2 to M phase.
What are some Additional Cdk regulators?
Upstream kinases
Phosphate
Cdk inhibitory proteins (CKIs)
What did Yoshio Masui discover in 1971?
Identified a cytoplasmic factor (MPF) that could induce cell division in frog oocytes
What did Leland Hartwell discover in 1974?
Conducted screens in budding yeast that identified Cell Division Cycle (cdc) mutants including Cdk1 (Cdc28)
What did Sir Paul Nurse discover in 1987?
Identified and characterised Cdk1 (Cdc2) in fission yeast, and cloned human Cdk1 by complementation
How can we study Cell Division Cycle (cdc) mutant cells?
Temperature sensitive (ts) mutants
Track cell cycle by size and budding
What are Temperature sensitive (ts) mutants?
Mutations that allow gene products to function at low temperature, but not higher temperature.
What makes Cyclin levels oscillate?
Mechanisms controlling synthesis include changes in transcription and translation rate, which vary depending on cell type.
What are the APC/C signals?
The APC/C signals degradation of M-Cyclin to end mitosis and initiate cell division.
How do APC/C signals lead to degradation of M-Cyclin?
*The APC/C is a ubiquitin ligase
*It covalently attaches the small protein Ubiquitin to client proteins such as M-Cyclin
*Ubiquitinylation is a tag for protein degradation
What is the function of SCF signals?
SCF signals degradation of CKIs to promote G1-S transition.
How do SCF signals lead to the degradation of CKIs?
*SCF is a ubiquitin ligase
*It covalently attaches the small protein Ubiquitin to client proteins such as CKIs (Cdk inhibitor proteins)
How is cell cycle fidelity maintained?
Cyclin oscillations provide timing for the successive phases of the cell cycle.
Checkpoints.
What are cell cycle checkpoints?
Checkpoints are monitoring systems that check if conditions are right before allowing the next phase to occur.
What does mitogen do within the cell cycle?
Promotes G1/S-cyclin synthesis.
What happens within the cell cycle when DNA is damaged?
Inhibits cyclin activity by phosphoregulation or CKI.
What happen within the cell cycle when chromosomes become unattached?
Prevents M-cyclin destruction.
What is the G1 checkpoint (also known as restriction point or the START)?
*Nutritional conditions suitable
*Proliferation signals
*DNA damage has been repaired
What is the G2 checkpoint?
*DNA damage been repaired
*DNA replication complete
*Cell big enough
What is the DNA damage checkpoint?
*Budding yeast cells in G2 normally arrest if their DNA is damaged with X-rays.
*Rad9 mutant yeast do not delay in G2 after. *DNA damage and they continue to proliferate with damaged DNA and eventually die.
Are Rad9 mutant yeast defective in DNA damage repair?
Rad9 is part of a checkpoint response, not part of the DNA repair response.
What is the Mitotic or Spindle Assembly Checkpoint?
Are chromosomes (properly) attached to
the spindle?
What happens once the Mitotic or Spindle Assembly Checkpoint is satisfied?
*The APC/C is activated to degrade Cyclin B
*The cells exit metaphase into anaphase
What happens if a checkpoint cannot be satisfied?
*Cells will resume the cell cycle if errors or damage can be fixed.
-OR-
*Things cannot be corrected in a timely way.
What kinds of things cannot be corrected in a timely way, for the cell to get through the cell cycle checkpoint?
Cells can withdraw from the cell cycle (senescence)
- Terminal exit from cell cycle
- Allows cell to remain part of tissue but it will not proliferate
Or:
Cells can undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis)
- Removes cell from organism
What is the CDK that is involved in the G1 phase?
CDK4 & 6
What is the CDK that is involved in the G1/S phase?
CDK2
What is the CDK that is involved in the S phase?
CDK2, & CDK1 (CDC2)
What is the CDK that is involved in the M phase?
CDK1 (CDC2)
What is the cyclin involved in the G1 phase?
Cyclin D
What is the cyclin involved in the G1/S phase?
Cyclin E
What is the cyclin involved in the S phase?
Cyclin A
What is the cyclin involved in the G2/M phase?
Cyclin B
What are the main checkpoints in the cell cycle?
- Restriction point (or START in yeast)
- G2/M (DNA damage) checkpoint
- Mitotic checkpoint
How do cells control their CDK-cyclin kinase activity?
- Transcription
- Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs) and others
- The antagonized phosphorylation and
dephosphorylation - Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis
What is Myc?
A transcriptional factor, and one of the early G1 genes.
What does Myc do within the G1-S transition?
*Can react to the mitogens, activates and increases the transcription of several genes, including: cyclin D
*SCF ubiquitin ligase (for protein proteolysis)
What are the stages of G1 - S transition?
- The early G1 genes determine the G1/S transition
- CKs-dependent G1/S checkpoint activation
- CDC25-mediated inhibitions by TGFb & DNA damage pathways
- SCF E3 ligase-mediated inhibition
What is at the 5’ end of a DNA molecule?
Phosphate
What is at the 3’ end of a DNA molecule?
hydroxyl group
What direction is DNA read in?
5’ to 3’
What bonds are in the sugar phosphate backbone?
Phosphodiester bonds
How many hydrogen bonds are between adenine and thymine?
2
How many hydrogen bonds are between guanine and cytosine?
3
Which of the bases are purines?
Adenine and guanine
Which of the bases are pyrimidine?
Thymine and cytosine.
What are the key biochemical activities of DNA replication?
Initiation
Elongation
Termination
The end-replication
problem
Outline the process of recognition and activation of initiation.
- DNA replication begins at the origin (oriC) of replication.
- The oriC will be recognized by ORC (Origin recognition complex) for DNA unwinding.
- To preserve the genome’s integrity, each replication origin can only be activated once per cell cycle.
Outline the process of licensing and assembly of the replication complex of initiation.
- Licenses form an origin for a single initiation.
- Geminin binds to Cdt1
- This prevents it from loading Mcm complex onto the origin DNA.
- Geminin is degraded by APC/C mediated ubiquitin proteolysis.
- This releases Cdt1.
- This enables ORC-CDC6-Cdt1 complex recruit Mcm.
- Replication starts when CDK2-Cyclin A (CycA) phosphorylates the MCM2-7 hexamer.
- This form the replicative CMG helicase with the GINS complex and CDC45.
- The re-accumulation of Geminin in the S phase inhibits the assembly of new prereplication complexes until after the next mitosis.
What are licenses?
Prereplication complexes, origins for a single initiation events.
What is geminin?
Origin licensing regulator.
What is the function of geminin?
Binds to Cdt1 and prevents it from loading Mcm complex onto origin DNA.