Bistability of a coupled Aurora B kinase-phosphatase system in cell division
- University of Pennsylvania, United States
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
- Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
Abstract
Aurora B kinase, a key regulator of cell division, localizes to specific cellular locations, but the regulatory mechanisms responsible for phosphorylation of substrates located remotely from kinase enrichment sites are unclear. Here, we provide evidence that this activity at a distance depends on both sites of high kinase concentration and the bistability of a coupled kinase-phosphatase system. We reconstitute this bistable behavior and hysteresis using purified components to reveal co-existence of distinct high and low Aurora B activity states, sustained by a two-component kinase autoactivation mechanism. Furthermore, we demonstrate these non-linear regimes in live cells using a FRET-based phosphorylation sensor, and provide a mechanistic theoretical model for spatial regulation of Aurora B phosphorylation. We propose that bistability of an Aurora B-phosphatase system underlies formation of spatial phosphorylation patterns, which are generated and spread from sites of kinase autoactivation, thereby regulating cell division.
Article and author information
Author details
Reviewing Editor
- Jon Pines, The Gurdon Institute, United Kingdom
Version history
- Received: August 5, 2015
- Accepted: January 13, 2016
- Accepted Manuscript published: January 14, 2016 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: March 11, 2016 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2016, Zaytsev et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Bistability of a coupled Aurora B kinase-phosphatase system in cell division
eLife 5:e10644.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10644
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