Bypassing the Greatwall-Endosulfine pathway: plasticity of a pivotal cell-cycle regulatory module in Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: In vertebrates, mitotic and meiotic M phase is facilitated by the kinase Greatwall (Gwl), which phosphorylates a conserved sequence in the effector Endosulfine (Endos). Phosphorylated Endos inactivates the phosphatase PP2A/B55 to stabilize M-phase-specific phosphorylations added to many proteins by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). We show here that this module functions essentially identically in Drosophila melanogaster and is necessary for proper mitotic and meiotic cell division in a wide variety of tissues. Despite the importance and evolutionary conservation of this pathway between insects and vertebrates, it can be bypassed in at least two situations. First, heterozygosity for loss-of-function mutations of twins, which encodes the Drosophila B55 protein, suppresses the effects of endo

SUBMITTER: Kim MY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3416000 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature