Two from One: A Short Introduction to Cell Division Mechanisms

TWO FROM ONE Condensed and easy step-in resource to the vast universe of cell cycle control and cell division Two from One: A Short Introduction to Cell Division Mechanisms is an easy and solid step-in for students and all individuals starting to learn about cell and molecular biology, as well as professionals looking for an avenue into the subject, emphasizing general concepts and universal aspects of eukaryotic cell division without getting lost in the vast amount of detail across the overall field. The text enables readers to learn about general concepts and discoveries from various systems and approaches to elucidate the process of cell division, with descriptions of scientific processes included throughout in order to aid in reader comprehension. The content and material have been taught, revised, and simplified based on student feedback, to be as accessible as possible to a broader audience. It can be read in a few hours by anyone with an interest in the topic and an undergraduate background. In Two from One, readers can expect to find coverage on a myriad of essential topics, such as: Cell theory, mitosis, chromosome theory of heredity, DNA, and why/how cell cycles come in many flavors Cell growth and division, covering balanced growth and cell proliferation, measures of cell growth, and the relationship between cell growth and division Assaying cell cycle progression, covering measuring cell cycle phases, single-cell imaging, labeled mitoses, and frequency distributions Duplicating the genome, covering DNA replication, origin firing, chromatin, checkpoints, and the DNA damage checkpoint Undergraduates, graduate students, and early career professionals in cell biology, biomedicine, and biology, along with post docs changing subject area or needing further information on cell division, will find Two from One to be an immensely useful, accessible, and reader-friendly resource in a traditionally highly complex field.

Table of Contents:
Foreword xii Preface xiv Symbols and Abbreviations xvi 1 History and Context 1 1.1 From Cells to Their Nuclei 1 1.1.1 The Cell Theory 2 1.1.2 Mitosis 3 1.1.3 The Chromosome Theory of Heredity 6 1.1.4 Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) 9 1.1.5 Cell Cycles Come in Many Flavors 12 2 Cell Growth and Division 17 2.1 Balanced Growth and Cell Proliferation 17 2.2 Measures of Cell Growth 21 2.3 The Relationship Between Cell Growth and Division 24 2.4 Patterns of Growth in the Cell Cycle 27 2.4.1 Amoeba Cell Growth 28 2.4.2 Fission Yeast Growth 29 2.4.3 Budding Yeast Growth 30 2.4.4 Mammalian Cell Growth 31 2.5 Sizers vs Adders 32 3 Assaying Cell Cycle Progression 39 3.1 Measuring Cell Cycle Phases 39 3.1.1 Single- Cell Imaging 39 3.1.2 Labeled Mitoses 41 3.1.3 Frequency Distributions 43 3.2 Growth Limitations and Variations in the Duration of Cell Cycle Phases 46 3.3 Synchronous Cultures 49 3.3.1 How can One Induce Synchrony? 49 3.3.2 Selecting for Synchrony 52 3.3.2.1 Elutriation: The Mother of all Synchrony Selections 53 4 The Master Switch 57 4.1 Genetic Analyses Leading the Way 59 4.1.1 The cdc28 Mutant of Budding Yeast 59 4.1.2 From the wee1 to the cdc2 Mutant of Fission Yeast 63 4.1.3 What is True for One is True for All 66 4.2 All Roads Lead to the Same Control System 67 4.2.1 Cyclins 67 4.2.2 Maturation Promoting Factor (MPF) 70 4.3 Making Sense of it All 75 4.3.1 Cyclins Galore in Budding Yeast 76 4.3.1.1 G1 Cyclins 77 4.3.2 Back to wee1 78 5 Controlling the Master Switch 80 5.1 Cyclins in Cdk Complexes 81 5.2 Cdk as a Target of Phosphorylations 84 5.2.1 Activating Phosphorylation 84 5.2.2 Inhibitory Phosphorylation 85 5.3 Other Proteins in Cyclin/Cdk Complexes 86 5.3.1 Cdk Inhibitors 86 5.3.1.1 Cip/Kip Proteins 88 5.3.1.2 INK4 Proteins 88 5.3.2 Cks1 89 5.4 What Are Its Targets and How Cdk Phosphorylates Them 89 5.4.1 Defining the Cdk Substrate Universe 89 5.4.2 Cyclin the Recruiter 91 5.4.3 Here Comes Cks1 92 5.5 Ordering Cdk Phosphorylation in the Cell Cycle 94 5.5.1 Order from Intrinsic Cdk Activity 94 5.5.2 Precision from Specificity 96 6 A Full Circle of the Switch 99 6.1 Modeling a Cell Cycle Oscillator 99 6.2 The M- Cdk Switch 103 6.2.1 Exit from Interphase into Mitosis 103 6.2.2 The Anaphase Promoting Complex (apc) 104 6.2.3 From Metaphase to Anaphase 105 6.2.4 Flipping the M- Cdk Switch Off 106 6.2.5 Unsolved Problem: “Sizing” the M-.Cdk Switch 109 6.3 The G1/S Cdk Switch 110 6.3.1 G1- Cdk Activates G1/S Transcription 111 6.3.1.1 Doing Away with Transcriptional Inhibitors 111 6.3.2 Positive Feedback at the G1/S Switch 114 6.3.3 Negative Feedback at the G1/S Switch 115 6.3.4 Physiological Relevance of G1/S Switch in Cancer 116 6.4 Transcriptional Waves Until the End of the Cell Cycle 117 6.5 Comments on Overall Gene Expression in the Cell Cycle 119 7 Duplicating the Genome 121 7.1 DNA Replication 121 7.1.1 Setting the Stage 122 7.1.2 Origin Firing 126 7.1.3 Chromatin 128 7.1.4 Sisters Stay Together 129 7.2 Checkpoints 132 7.2.1 The General Concept 132 7.2.2 DNA Damage Checkpoint 134 8 Segregating the Chromosomes 138 8.1 Blind Men’s Riddle 138 8.2 The Mitotic Spindle 139 8.2.1 Tubulin 140 8.2.2 MTs are Dynamic 142 8.2.3 Scaling the Spindle 146 8.3 The MT Organizing Centers (MTOCs) 147 8.4 The Kinetochore 152 8.4.1 Kinetochore- MT Attachment: Stochastic or Deterministic? 154 8.4.2 May the Force Be With You 156 8.5 The Spindle Assembly Checkpoint (SAC) 159 9 Segregating Organelles and the Cytoplasm 162 9.1 The Golgi 164 9.2 Mitochondria 166 9.3 Lysosomes and Vacuoles 169 9.4 Mitotic Fragmentation of the Nuclear Envelope 170 9.5 Cytokinesis: Two from One 172 9.5.1 Position 172 9.5.2 Assemble 176 9.5.3 Contract 179 References 189 Index 209