Budding yeast greatwall and endosulfines control activity and spatial regulation of PP2A(Cdc55) for timely mitotic progression

PLoS Genet. 2013;9(7):e1003575. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003575. Epub 2013 Jul 4.

Abstract

Entry into mitosis is triggered by cyclinB/Cdk1, whose activity is abruptly raised by a positive feedback loop. The Greatwall kinase phosphorylates proteins of the endosulfine family and allows them to bind and inhibit the main Cdk1-counteracting PP2A-B55 phosphatase, thereby promoting mitotic entry. In contrast to most eukaryotic systems, Cdc14 is the main Cdk1-antagonizing phosphatase in budding yeast, while the PP2A(Cdc55) phosphatase promotes, instead of preventing, mitotic entry by participating to the positive feedback loop of Cdk1 activation. Here we show that budding yeast endosulfines (Igo1 and Igo2) bind to PP2A(Cdc55) in a cell cycle-regulated manner upon Greatwall (Rim15)-dependent phosphorylation. Phosphorylated Igo1 inhibits PP2A(Cdc55) activity in vitro and induces mitotic entry in Xenopus egg extracts, indicating that it bears a conserved PP2A-binding and -inhibitory activity. Surprisingly, deletion of IGO1 and IGO2 in yeast cells leads to a decrease in PP2A phosphatase activity, suggesting that endosulfines act also as positive regulators of PP2A in yeast. Consistently, RIM15 and IGO1/2 promote, like PP2A(Cdc55), timely entry into mitosis under temperature-stress, owing to the accumulation of Tyr-phosphorylated Cdk1. In addition, they contribute to the nuclear export of PP2A(Cdc55), which has recently been proposed to promote mitotic entry. Altogether, our data indicate that Igo proteins participate in the positive feedback loop for Cdk1 activation. We conclude that Greatwall, endosulfines, and PP2A are part of a regulatory module that has been conserved during evolution irrespective of PP2A function in the control of mitosis. However, this conserved module is adapted to account for differences in the regulation of mitotic entry in different organisms.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • CDC2 Protein Kinase / genetics
  • CDC2 Protein Kinase / metabolism
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / genetics*
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / metabolism
  • Cyclin B / metabolism
  • Mitosis / genetics*
  • Ovum / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation
  • Protein Kinases / genetics*
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism
  • Protein Phosphatase 2 / genetics*
  • Protein Phosphatase 2 / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism
  • Tissue Extracts / genetics
  • Xenopus / genetics

Substances

  • CDC55 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Cyclin B
  • Igo1 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Igo2 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Tissue Extracts
  • Protein Kinases
  • Rim15 protein, S cerevisiae
  • CDC2 Protein Kinase
  • Protein Phosphatase 2

Grants and funding

This work has been supported by a grant from ANR (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche, Grant ANR-09-BLAN-0125-01) to SP, a grant from LNCC (Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, Equipe labelisée) to TL, a grant from ANR (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche, Grant ANR-BLAN-1207-01) to AC and by a grant from the Austrian Science Foundation (doctoral program APW01220FW) to EO. MAJ was supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.