SummaryCytokinesis follows separase activation and chromosome segregation. This order is ensured in budding yeast by the mitotic exit network (MEN), where Cdc14p dephosphorylates key conserved Cdk1-substrates exemplified by the anaphase spindle-elongation protein Ase1p. However, in metazoans, MEN and Cdc14 function is not conserved. Instead, the PP2A-B55α/ENSA/Greatwall (BEG) pathway controls the human Ase1p ortholog PRC1. In this pathway, PP2A-B55 inhibition is coupled to Cdk1-cyclin B activity, whereas separase inhibition is maintained by cyclin B concentration. This creates two cyclin B thresholds during mitotic exit. Simulation and experiments using PRC1 as a model substrate show that the first threshold permits separase activation and chromosome segregation, and the second permits PP2A-B55 activation and initiation of cytokinesis. Removal of the ENSA/Greatwall (EG) timer module eliminates this second threshold, as well as associated delay in PRC1 dephosphorylation and initiation of cytokinesis, by uncoupling PP2A-B55 from Cdk1-cyclin B activity. Therefore, temporal order during mitotic exit is promoted by the metazoan BEG pathway.

SummaryThe transition from G1 into DNA replication (S phase) is an emergent behavior resulting from dynamic and complex interactions between cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks), Cdk inhibitors (CKIs), and the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C). Understanding the cellular decision to commit to S phase requires a quantitative description of these interactions. We apply quantitative imaging of single human cells to track the expression of G1/S regulators and use these data to parametrize a stochastic mathematical model of the G1/S transition. We show that a rapid, proteolytic, double-negative feedback loop between Cdk2:Cyclin and the Cdk inhibitor p27Kip1 drives a switch-like entry into S phase. Furthermore, our model predicts that increasing Emi1 levels throughout S phase are critical in maintaining irreversibility of the G1/S transition, which we validate using Emi1 knockdown and live imaging of G1/S reporters. This work provides insight into the general design principles of the signaling networks governing the temporally abrupt transitions between cell-cycle phases.

Although a great deal is known about the signaling events that promote nuclear translocation of NF-κB, how cellular biophysics and the microenvironment might regulate the dynamics of this pathway is poorly understood. In this study, we used high-content image analysis and Bayesian network modeling to ask whether cell shape and context features influence NF-κB activation using the inherent variability present in unperturbed populations of breast tumor and non-tumor cell lines. Cell–cell contact, cell and nuclear area, and protrusiveness all contributed to variability in NF-κB localization in the absence and presence of TNFα. Higher levels of nuclear NF-κB were associated with mesenchymal-like versus epithelial-like morphologies, and RhoA-ROCK-myosin II signaling was critical for mediating shape-based differences in NF-κB localization and oscillations. Thus, mechanical factors such as cell shape and the microenvironment can influence NF-κB signaling and may in part explain how different phenotypic outcomes can arise from the same chemical cues.

The transcription factor p53 plays a central role in maintaining genomic integrity. Recent experiments in MCF7 cells have shown that p53 protein level rises and falls in distinct pulses in response to DNA damage. The amplitudes of and intervals between pulses seem to be independent of the extent of damage, and some cells generate regular pulses of p53 over many days. Identifying the molecular mechanisms responsible for such interesting behavior is an important and challenging problem. This paper describes four dual-feedback mechanisms that combine both positive and negative feedback loops, which have been identified in the signaling network responsible for p53 regulation. Mathematical models of all four mechanisms are analyzed to determine if they are consistent with experimental observations and to characterize subtle differences among the possible mechanisms. In addition, a novel molecular mechanism is proposed whereby p53 pulses may induce, at first, cell cycle arrest and, if sustained, cell death. The proposal accounts for basic features of p53-mediated responses to DNA damage and suggests new experiments to probe the dynamics of p53 signaling.

For proper chromosome segregation, sister kinetochores must interact with microtubules from opposite spindle poles (bi-orientation). To establish bi-orientation, aberrant kinetochore–microtubule attachments are disrupted (error correction) by Aurora B kinase (Ipl1 in budding yeast). Paradoxically, during this disruption, new attachments are still formed efficiently to allow fresh attempts at bi-orientation. How this is possible remains an enigma. Here we show that kinetochore attachment to the microtubule lattice (lateral attachment) is impervious to Aurora B regulation, but attachment to the microtubule plus-end (end-on attachment) is disrupted by this kinase. Thus, a new lateral attachment is formed without interference, then converted to end-on attachment and released if incorrect. This process continues until bi-orientation is established and stabilized by tension across sister kinetochores. We reveal how Aurora B specifically promotes disruption of the end-on attachment through phospho-regulation of kinetochore components Dam1 and Ndc80. Our results reveal fundamental mechanisms for promoting error correction for bi-orientation.