Control of metaphase-anaphase progression by proteolysis: cyclosome function regulated by the protein kinase A pathway, ubiquitination and localization

Abstract

Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is fundamental to cell cycle progression. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a mitotic cyclin (Cdc13), a key cell cycle regulator, is degraded for exiting mitosis, while Cut2 has to be destroyed for the onset of sister chromatid separation in anaphase. Ubiquitination of these proteins requires the special destruction box (DB) sequences locating in their N-termini and the large, 20S complex called the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome. Here we show that cyclosome function during metaphase-anaphase progression is regulated by the protein kinase A (PKA) inactivation pathway, ubiquitination of the cyclosome subunit, and cellular localization of the target substrates. Evidence is provided that the cyclosome plays pleiotropic roles in the cell cycle: mutations in the subunit genes show a common anaphase defect, but subunit-specific phenotypes such as in G1/S or G2/M transition, septation and cytokinesis, stress response and heavy metal sensitivity, are additionally produced, suggesting that different subunits take distinct parts of complex cyclosome functions. Inactivation of PKA is important for the activation of the cyclosome for promoting anaphase, perhaps through dephosphorylation of the subunits such as Cut9 (Apc6). Cut4 (Apc1), the largest subunit, plays an essential role in the assembly and functional regulation of the cyclosome in response to cell cycle arrest and stresses. Cut4 is highly modified, probably by ubiquitination, when it is not assembled into the 20S cyclosome. Sds23 is implicated in DB-mediated ubiquitination possibly through regulating de-ubiquitination, while Cut8 is necessary for efficient proteolysis of Cdc13 and Cut2 coupled with cytokinesis. Unexpectedly, the timing of proteolysis is dependent on cellular localization of the substrate. Cdc13 enriched along the spindle disappears first, followed by decay of the nuclear signal, whereas Cut2 in the nucleus disappears first, followed by decline in the spindle signal during metaphase-anaphase progression.