Minimal models for cell-cycle control based on competitive inhibition and multisite phosphorylations of Cdk substrates.

ABSTRACT: The eukaryotic cell cycle is characterized by alternating oscillations in the activities of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) and the anaphase-promoting complex (APC). Successful completion of the cell cycle is dependent on the precise, temporally ordered appearance of these activities. A modest level of Cdk activity is sufficient to initiate DNA replication, but mitosis and APC activation require an elevated Cdk activity. In present-day eukaryotes, this temporal order is provided by a complex network of regulatory proteins that control both Cdk and APC activities via sharp thresholds, bistability, and time delays. Using simple computational models, we show here that these dynamical features of cell-cycle organization could emerge in a control system driven by a single Cdk/cyclin complex and A

SUBMITTER: Gerard C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3602763 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature