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Novel localization and possible functions of cyclin E in early sea urchin development

¹ Program in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
² Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
³ Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA

*Author for correspondence (e-mail: marzluff{at}med.unc.edu)

Accepted October 4, 2001

In somatic cells, cyclin E-cdk2 activity oscillates during the cell cycle and is required for the regulation of the G1/S transition. Cyclin E and its associated kinase activity remain constant throughout early sea urchin embryogenesis, consistent with reports from studies using several other embryonic systems. Here we have expanded these studies and show that cyclin E rapidly and selectively enters the sperm head after fertilization and remains concentrated in the male pronucleus until pronuclear fusion, at which time it disperses throughout the zygotic nucleus. We also show that cyclin E is not concentrated at the centrosomes but is associated with condensed chromosomes throughout mitosis for at least the first four cell cycles. Isolated mitotic spindles are enriched for cyclin E and cdk2, which are localized to the chromosomes. The chromosomal cyclin E is associated with active kinase during mitosis. We propose that cyclin E may play a role in the remodeling of the sperm head and re-licensing of the paternal genome after fertilization. Furthermore, cyclin E does not need to be degraded or dissociated from the chromosomes during mitosis; instead, it may be required on chromosomes during mitosis to immediately initiate the next round of DNA replication.

Key words: Sea urchin, Cyclin, Embryogenesis, Mitotic spindle, Male pronucleus

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