spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online March 22, 2006
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/jcs.02919

Journal of Cell Science 119, 1213-1218 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schmidt, A.
Right arrow Articles by Mayer, T. U.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schmidt, A.
Right arrow Articles by Mayer, T. U.

Commentary

Cytostatic factor: an activity that puts the cell cycle on hold

Andreas Schmidt1, Nadine R. Rauh1, Erich A. Nigg2 and Thomas U. Mayer1,*

1 Chemical Genetics, Independent Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
2 Department of Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: mayer{at}biochem.mpg.de)

Accepted 2 February 2006

Fertilization is the fundamental process in which two gametes - sperm and oocyte - fuse to generate a zygote that will form a new multicellular organism. In most vertebrates, oocytes await fertilization while arrested at metaphase of meiosis II. This resting state can be stable for many hours and depends on a cytoplasmic activity termed cytostatic factor (CSF). Recently, members of the novel Emi/Erp family of proteins have been put forward as important components of CSF. These proteins inhibit the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C), which acts at the very core of the cell cycle regulatory machinery. Initially, Xenopus early mitotic inhibitor 1 (Emi1) was proposed to be a component of CSF, but newer work suggests that a structural relative, Emi-related protein 1 (Erp1/Emi2), is essential for maintenance of CSF arrest in Xenopus. Most importantly, studies on Erp1/Emi2 regulation have led to a detailed molecular understanding of the Ca2+-mediated release from CSF arrest that occurs upon fertilization.

Key words: Cytostatic factor, Cell-cycle regulation, APC/C, Erp1/Emi2, Meiosis, Oocyte fertilization




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Nucleic Acids ResHome page
A. Graindorge, O. Le Tonqueze, R. Thuret, N. Pollet, H. B. Osborne, and Y. Audic
Identification of CUG-BP1/EDEN-BP target mRNAs in Xenopus tropicalis
Nucleic Acids Res., April 1, 2008; 36(6): 1861 - 1870.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum Reprod UpdateHome page
K. T. Jones
Meiosis in oocytes: predisposition to aneuploidy and its increased incidence with age
Hum. Reprod. Update, March 1, 2008; 14(2): 143 - 158.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
H. Yu
PP2A as a mercenary for warring kinases in the egg
PNAS, October 30, 2007; 104(44): 17245 - 17246.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Biol. Chem.Home page
J. Liu, B. Grimison, A. L. Lewellyn, and J. L. Maller
The Anaphase-promoting Complex/Cyclosome Inhibitor Emi2 Is Essential for Meiotic but Not Mitotic Cell Cycles
J. Biol. Chem., November 17, 2006; 281(46): 34736 - 34741.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006