Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Biological Chemistry

Controlling Cell Division’s Last Step

Researchers track down the protein responsible for putting the brakes on key biochemical process

by Sarah Everts
March 19, 2012 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 90, Issue 12

[+]Enlarge
Credit: Science
A fluorescence image shows CHMP4C (lime green), the protein that acts as a checkpoint in the final stages of cell division, located on a strand of the protein tubulin (red).
This fluorescence image shows the protein CHMP4C (lime green) located on a strand of the proteins tubulin (red). CHMP4C acts as a checkpoint in the final stages of cell division.
Credit: Science
A fluorescence image shows CHMP4C (lime green), the protein that acts as a checkpoint in the final stages of cell division, located on a strand of the protein tubulin (red).

Before a cell divides in two, it must ensure that the daughter cell possesses correctly copied DNA as well as essential organelles and cytoplasm. Researchers have now pinpointed the protein that acts as a checkpoint before the final split can occur (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.12171180). In addition to illuminating how the essential biological process of cell division is controlled, the discovery may also provide insights into cancer, because cell division occurs unchecked in this disease. The final physical separation of cells is orchestrated by a complex of about seven or eight proteins, says Juan Martin-Serrano of King’s College London School of Medicine. His team found that when one of the proteins (CHMP4C) in this complex becomes phosphorylated, the final separation of the two cells is stalled. Cells use this checkpoint as an opportunity to ensure chromosome segregation has taken place without error, he adds. “This is quite a surprising finding,” comments Harald Stenmark, a biochemist at Oslo University Hospital, in Norway. Researchers had thought CHMP4C was a green light forward, but it turns out that CHMP4C is actually a brake, he says.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.