A collaborative study by Dr. Pablo Lara-Gonzalez and Dr. Lee Bardwell is published at the Journal of Cell Biology!
Congratulations to Dr. Pablo Lara-Gonzalez and Dr. Lee Bardwell!
The Lara-Gonzalez lab, in collaboration with the Bardwell lab, recently published a
manuscript titled “Cyclin B3 is a dominant fast-acting cyclin that drives rapid early
embryonic divisions” in the Journal of Cell Biology.
During the development of an embryo, it is critical that mitosis is fast to ensure that the
developmental program is completed on time. However, if the cells of an embryo divide
too fast, it can result in errors in the segregation of the genomic content that will
ultimately cause the death of the embryo. How embryonic cells optimize mitotic duration
has remained a mystery.
The authors of the study answered this question using the roundworm C. elegans, a
popular model organism. By studying how the cells in the C. elegans embryo divide, the
authors found that a protein known as cyclin B3 is essential to accelerate the pace of
mitosis. Moreover, the authors discovered that cyclin B3 works by potently activating the
mitotic kinase Cdk1, which in turn ensures that all events during embryo mitosis occur
at an accelerated pace. The authors also found that a second protein, known as cyclin
B1, works to delay mitosis to ensure that there are no errors in the segregation of the
genome content.
The authors propose that cyclin B3 acts as a gas pedal to drive rapid mitosis, while
cyclin B1 acts as a break to delay mitosis. The coordination of these two proteins works
to promote fast yet accurate mitoses during embryonic development. These findings
could help scientists understand the origin of certain developmental disorders, as well
as develop to therapies to target mitosis to slow or stop cancer growth.
View article here.