Knowledge of Aurora A kinase functions is limited to premetaphase events, particularly centrosome maturation, G2/M transition, and mitotic spindle assembly. The involvement of Aurora A in events after metaphase has only been suggested because appropriate experiments are technically difficult. We report here the design of the first human Aurora A kinase (as-AurA) engineered by chemical genetics techniques. This kinase is fully functional biochemically and in cells, and is rapidly and specifically inhibited by the ATP analogue 1-Naphthyl-PP1 (1-Na-PP1). By treating cells exclusively expressing the as-AurA with 1-Na-PP1, we discovered that Aurora A is required for central spindle assembly in anaphase through phosphorylation of Ser 19 of P150Glued. This paper thus describes a new Aurora A function that takes place after the metaphase-to-anaphase transition and a new powerful tool to search for and study new Aurora A functions.

MNK1 is a serine/threonine kinase identified as a target for MAP kinase pathways. Using chemical drug, kinase-dead expression or knockdown by RNA interference, we show that inhibition of MNK1 induces the formation of multinucleated cells, which can be rescued by expressing a form of MNK1 that is resistant to RNA interference. We found that the active human form of MNK1 localises to centrosomes, spindle microtubules and the midbody. Time-lapse recording of MNK1-depleted cells displays cytokinesis defects, as daughter cells fuse back together. When MNK1 activity was inhibited, no microtubule defect at the midbody was detected, however, anchorage of the membrane vesicle at the midbody was impaired as lumenal GFP-positive vesicles did not accumulate at the midbody. At the molecular level, we found that centriolin localisation was impaired at the midbody in MNK1-depleted cells. As a consequence, endobrevin - a v-SNARE protein implicated in the abscission step - was not properly localised to the midbody. Altogether, our data show that MNK1 activity is required for abscission.

“Omnis cellula e cellula,” in 1858, an important dogma in cell biology was born, when Rudolf Virchow established that every cell must derive from a preexisting cell. And indeed cell division is the only way for life to expend, it is also the way for immortalization, and unfortunately when uncontrolled also the way for cancer. But unrevealing mechanisms leading to cell division took quite a while. How does a mother cell divide to give two daughters? This is known as the cell cycle, which describes a series of events that insures faithfully transition of the genetic information from one cell generation to the next. These dividing mechanisms have been conserved throughout evolution; they underlie growth and development in all living organisms and are central to their heredity and evolution.

Release of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) from its translational repressor eIF4E-binding protein (4E-BP) is a crucial event for the first mitotic division following fertilization of sea urchin eggs. Finding partners of eIF4E following fertilization is crucial to understand how eIF4E functions during this physiological process. The isolation and characterization of cDNA encoding Sphaerechinus granularis eIF4G (SgIF4G) are reported. mRNA of SgIF4G is present as a single 8.5-kb transcript in unfertilized eggs, suggesting that only one ortholog exists in echinoderms. The longest open reading frame predicts a sequence of 5235 nucleotides encoding a deduced polypeptide of 1745 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 192 kDa. Among highly conserved domains, SgIF4G protein possesses motifs that correspond to the poly(A) binding protein and eIF4E protein-binding sites. A specific polyclonal antibody was produced and used to characterize the SgIF4G protein in unfertilized and fertilized eggs by SDS-PAGE and western blotting. Multiple differentially migrating bands representing isoforms of sea urchin eIF4G are present in unfertilized eggs. Fertilization triggers modifications of the SgIF4G isoforms and rapid formation of the SgIF4G-eIF4E complex. Whereas rapamycin inhibits the formation of the SgIF4G-eIF4E complex, modification of these SgIF4G isoforms occurs independently from the rapamycin-sensitive pathway. Microinjection of a peptide corresponding to the eIF4E-binding site derived from the sequence of SgIF4G into unfertilized eggs affects the first mitotic division of sea urchin embryos. Association of SgIF4G with eIF4E is a crucial event for the onset of the first mitotic division following fertilization, suggesting that cap-dependent translation is highly regulated during this process. This hypothesis is strengthened by the evidence that microinjection of the cap analog m7GDP into unfertilized eggs inhibits the first mitotic division.

The eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E)-binding proteins (4E-BPs) inhibit translation initiation by binding eIF4E and preventing recruitment of the translation machinery to mRNA. We have previously shown that fertilization of sea urchin eggs triggers eIF4E–4E-BP complex dissociation and 4E-BP degradation. Here, we show that microinjection of eIF4E-binding motif peptide into unfertilized eggs delays the onset of the first mitosis triggered by fertilization, demonstrating that dissociation of the eIF4E–4E-BP complex is functionally important for the first mitotic division in sea urchin embryos. We also show by gel filtration analyses that eIF4E is present in unfertilized eggs as an 80 kDa molecular mass complex containing 4E-BP and a new 4E-BP of 40 kDa. Fertilization triggers the dissociation of eIF4E from these two 4E-BPs and triggers the rapid recruitment of eIF4E into a high-molecular-mass complex. Release of eIF4E from the two 4E-BPs is correlated with a decrease in the total level of both 4E-BPs following fertilization. Abundance of the two 4E-BPs has been monitored during embryonic development. The level of the two proteins remains very low during the rapid cleavage stage of early development and increases 8 hours after fertilization. These results demonstrate that these two 4E-BPs are down- and upregulated during the embryonic development of sea urchins. Consequently, these data suggest that eIF4E availability to other partners represents an important determinant of the early development of sea urchin embryos.

In sea urchins, fertilization triggers a rapid rise in protein synthesis necessary for activation of CDK1/cyclin B, the universal cell cycle regulator. It has been shown that FRAP/mTOR is required for eIF4E release from the translational repressor 4E-BP, a process that occurs upstream of de novo cyclin B synthesis. Here, we investigate whether PI 3-kinase acts independently or upstream from FRAP/mTOR in the signal transduction pathway that links fertilization to the activation of the CDK1/cyclin B complex in sea urchin egg. We found that wortmannin, a potent inhibitor of PI 3-kinase, partially inhibited the global increase in protein synthesis triggered by fertilization. Furthermore, wortmannin treatment induced partial inhibition of cyclin B translation triggered by fertilization, in correlation with an intermediate effect of the drug on 4E-BP degradation and on the dissociation of the 4E-BP/eIF4E complex induced by fertilization. Our results presented here suggest that PI 3-kinase activity is required for completion of mitotic divisions of the sea urchin embryo. Incubation of eggs with wortmannin or microinjection of wortmannin or LY 294002 affects drastically mitotic divisions induced by fertilization. In addition, we found that wortmannin treatment inhibits dephosphorylation of the tyrosine inhibitory site of CDK1. Taken together, these data suggest that PI 3-kinase acts upstream of at least two independent targets that function in the CDK1/cyclin B activation triggered by fertilization of sea urchin oocytes. We discuss the significance of these results concerning the cascade of reactions that impinge upon the activation of the CDK1/cyclin B complex that follows sea urchin oocyte fertilization.

The control of gene expression at the translational level has emerged in the past decade as an important aspect of cell growth, proliferation and malignant transformation. Translation is primarily regulated at the initiation step, and mitogen-dependent signaling pathways converge to modulate the activity of translation initiation factors. In most tumors tested, at least one translation initiation factor is overexpressed and overexpression of translation initiation factors often provokes transformation. Malignant transformation could be caused by the increased translation of a subset of mRNAs encoding important proteins which are required for cell growth and proliferation. These mRNAs usually possess regulatory sequences that render their translation more sensitive to changes in the activity of translation initiation factors. In this chapter, we describe recent advances illustrating the importance of translation in cell cycle progression and cell transformation. Control of translation initiation may represent an excellent target for antitumor drugs.

The mRNA’s cap-binding protein eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF)4E is a major target for the regulation of translation initiation. eIF4E activity is controlled by a family of translation inhibitors, the eIF4E-binding proteins (4E-BPs). We have previously shown that a rapid dissociation of 4E-BP from eIF4E is related with the dramatic rise in protein synthesis that occurs following sea urchin fertilization. Here, we demonstrate that 4E-BP is destroyed shortly following fertilization and that 4E-BP degradation is sensitive to rapamycin, suggesting that proteolysis could be a novel means of regulating 4E-BP function. We also show that eIF4E/4E-BP dissociation following fertilization is sensitive to rapamycin. Furthermore, while rapamycin modestly affects global translation rates, the drug strongly inhibits cyclin B de novo synthesis and, consequently, precludes the completion of the first mitotic cleavage. These results demonstrate that, following sea urchin fertilization, cyclin B translation, and thus the onset of mitosis, are regulated by a rapamycin-sensitive pathway. These processes are effected at least in part through eIF4E/4E-BP complex dissociation and 4E-BP degradation.