The Mitotic Exit Network integrates temporal and spatial signals by distributing regulation across multiple components
Abstract
GTPase signal transduction pathways control cellular decision making by integrating multiple cellular events into a single signal. The Mitotic Exit Network (MEN), a Ras-like GTPase signaling pathway, integrates spatial and temporal cues to ensure that cytokinesis only occurs after the genome has partitioned between mother and daughter cells during anaphase. Here we show that signal integration does not occur at a single step of the pathway. Rather, sequential components of the pathway are controlled in series by different signals. The spatial signal, nuclear position, regulates the MEN GTPase Tem1. The temporal signal, commencement of anaphase, is mediated by mitotic cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) phosphorylation of the GTPase's downstream kinases. We propose that integrating multiple signals through sequential steps in the GTPase pathway represents a generalizable principle in GTPase signaling and explains why intracellular signal transmission is a multi-step process. Serial signal integration rather than signal amplification makes multi-step signal transduction necessary.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD085866)
- Angelika Amon
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Angelika Amon
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2019, Campbell 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.
Metrics
-
- 3,065
- views
-
- 453
- downloads
-
- 24
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Citations by DOI
-
- 24
- citations for umbrella DOI https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.41139