Evolution of Eukaryotic Cell Cycle Regulation

Model scenarios for evolution of the eukaryotic cell cycle.

Progress through the division cycle of present day eukaryotic cells is controlled by a complex network consisting of (i) cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and their associated cyclins, (ii) kinases and phosphatases that regulate CDK activity, and (iii) stoichiometric inhibitors that sequester cyclin-CDK dimers. Presumably regulation of cell division in the earliest ancestors of eukaryotes was a c...

Analysis of a generic model of eukaryotic cell-cycle regulation.

We propose a protein interaction network for the regulation of DNA synthesis and mitosis that emphasizes the universality of the regulatory system among eukaryotic cells. The idiosyncrasies of cell cycle regulation in particular organisms can be attributed, we claim, to specific settings of rate constants in the dynamic network of chemical reactions. The values of these rate constants are deter...

Evolution of networks and sequences in eukaryotic cell cycle control.

The molecular networks regulating the G1-S transition in budding yeast and mammals are strikingly similar in network structure. However, many of the individual proteins performing similar network roles appear to have unrelated amino acid sequences, suggesting either extremely rapid sequence evolution, or true polyphyly of proteins carrying out identical network roles. A yeast/mammal comparison ...

Regulation of the cell cycle in eukaryotic cells.

Evolution of Eukaryotic Cell Cycle Regulation Stepwise Addition of Regulatory Kinases and Late Advent of the CDKs

Protein kinases regulate a number of critical events in mitosis and meiosis. A study of the evolution of kinases involved in cell cycle control (CCC) might shed light on the evolution of the eukaryotic cell cycle. In particular, applying quantitative phylogenetic methods to key CCC kinases could provide information on the relative timing of gene duplication events. To investigate the evolution ...