Screening of five specific cell cycle inhibitors using a T Cell lymphoma cell line synchrony/release assay

To obtain different cell populations at specific cell cycle stages, we used a cell culture synchronization protocol. Effects of five different cell cycle inhibitors acting throughout the cell cycle were examined by DNA flow cytometric analysis of a synchrony/release lymphoma cell line (CEM). The screening synchronized protocol showed that staurosporine, mimosine and aphidicolin are reversible G1 phase inhibitors that act at different times. Staurosporine acted in early G1, exhibited the strongest cytotoxic effect, and induced apoptosis. Mimosine and aphidicolin acted in late G1 and at the G1/S boundary, respectively. Hydroxyurea arrested CEM cells in early S phase, but later than the aphidicolin arrest point. Nocodazole synchronized CEM cells in M phase. All the inhibitors examined in this study can be used to synchronize cells at different phases of the cell cycle and were reversible with little toxicity except for staurosporine which is highly toxic. Because the regulatory mechanism of the cell cycle is disrupted by their effects on protein synthesis, however, these drugs must be used with caution.     

A genome-wide resource of cell cycle and cell shape genes of fission yeast

To identify near complete sets of genes required for the cell cycle and cell shape, we have visually screened a genome-wide gene deletion library of 4843 fission yeast deletion mutants (95.7% of total protein encoding genes) for their effects on these processes. A total of 513 genes have been identified as being required for cell cycle progression, 276 of which have not been previously described as cell cycle genes. Deletions of a further 333 genes lead to specific alterations in cell shape and another 524 genes result in generally misshapen cells. Here, we provide the first eukaryotic resource of gene deletions, which describes a near genome-wide set of genes required for the cell cycle and cell shape.     

Reproducible fashion of the HSP70B' promoter‐induced cytotoxic response on a live cell‐based biosensor by cell cycle synchronization

Live cell‐based sensors potentially provide functional information about the cytotoxic effect of reagents on various signaling cascades. Cells transfected with a reporter vector derived from a cytotoxic response promoter can be used as intelligent cytotoxicity sensors (i.e., sensor cells). We have combined sensor cells and a microfluidic cell culture system that can achieve several laminar flows, resulting in a reliable high‐throughput cytotoxicity detection system. These sensor cells can also be applied to single cell arrays. However, it is difficult to detect a cellular response in a single cell array, due to the heterogeneous response of sensor cells. The objective of this study was cell homogenization with cell cycle synchronization to enhance the response of cell‐based biosensors. Our previously established stable sensor cells were brought into cell cycle synchronization under serum‐starved conditions and we then investigated the cadmium chloride‐induced cytotoxic response at the single cell level. The GFP positive rate of synchronized cells was approximately twice as high as that of the control cells, suggesting that cell homogenization is an important step when using cell‐based biosensors with microdevices, such as a single cell array. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;107: 561–565. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A link between very long chain fatty acid elongation and mating-specific yeast cell cycle arrest

Ceramides and sphingolipid intermediates are well-established regulators of the cell cycle. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae, the complex sphingolipid backbone, ceramide, comprises a long chain sphingoid base, a polar head group, and a very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA). While ceramides and long chain bases have been extensively studied as to their roles in regulating cell cycle arrest under multiple conditions, the roles of VLCFAs are not well understood. Here, we used the yeast elo2 and elo3 mutants, which are unable to elongate fatty acids, as tools to explore if maintaining VLCFA elongation is necessary for cell cycle arrest in response to yeast mating. We found that both elo2 and elo3 cells had severely reduced mating efficiencies and were unable to form polarized shmoo projections that are necessary for cell-cell contact during mating. They also lacked functional MAP kinase signaling activity and were defective in initiating a cell cycle arrest in response to pheromone. Additional data suggests that mislocalization of the Ste5 scaffold in elo2 and elo3 mutants upon mating initiation may be responsible for the inability to initiate a cell cycle arrest. Moreover, the lack of proper Ste5 localization may be caused by the inability of mutant cells to mobilize PIP₂. We suggest that VLCFAs are required for Ste5 localization, which is a necessary event for initiating MAP kinase signaling and cell cycle arrest during yeast mating initiation.     

Evaluation of methods of synchronization of cell division in yeast <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis>

Synchronization of cell division in yeast cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used in studies on regulation of eukaryotic gene expression and biochemical processes at different stages of the cell cycle. In this study, we compared the efficacy of modern widely used methodologies to achieve and assess the degree of synchronization of cell division in yeast. Based on the literature and our own data, we propose practical recommendations for synchronization of cell divisions in S. cerevisiae using chemical reagents (alpha-factor, hydroxyurea, nocodazole), and a genetic cell-cycle block (temperature-sensitive mutation cdc28-4).     

Regulation of mating in the cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The capacity of haploid a yeast cells to mate (fuse with a haploid strain of alpha mating type followed by nuclear fusion to produce a diploid cell) was assessed for a variety of temperature-sensitive cell division cycle (cdc) mutants at the permissive and restrictive temperatures. Asynchronous populations of some mutants do not mate at the restrictive temperature, and these mutants define genes (cdc 1, 4, 24, and 33) that are essential both for the cell cycle and for mating. For most cdc mutants, asynchronous populations mate well at the restrictive temperature while populations synchronized at the cdc block do not. Populations of a mutant carrying the cdc 28 mutation mate well at the restrictive temperature after synchronization at the cdc 28 step. These results suggest that mating can occur from the cdc 28 step, the same step at which mating factors arrest cell cycle progress. The cell cycle interval in which mating can occur may or may not extend to the immediately succeeding and diverging steps (cdc 4 and cdc 24). High frequency mating does not occur in the interval of the cell cycle extending from the step before the initiation of DNA synthesis (cdc 7) through DNA synthesis (cdc 2, 8, and 21), medial nuclear division (cdc 13), and late nuclear division (cdc 14 and 15).     

Reversible arrest of haploid yeast cells in the initiation of DNA synthesis by a diffusible sex factor

A diffusible substance, α factor, is produced constitutively by haploid yeast cells of α mating type and this factor specifically inhibits the division of a mating type cells. Experiments are presented which demonstrate that α factor arrests a cells as unbudded, mononucleate cells prior to the initiation of DNA synthesis in the cell cycle. Studies with temperature-sensitive mutants defective in one of thirteen different cell cycle functions suggest that although arrested a cells continue to enlarge they do not perform functions required for the next cell cycle. The arrest is reversible and a partially synchronized round of DNA replication is observed upon removal of α factor from arrested cells. We propose that this factor is one element of a regulatory system that functions to assure the synchronization of a and α haploid cell cycles prior to conjugation.     

Mode of estrogen action on cell proliferation in CAMA-1 cells: II. Sensitivity of G1 phase population

The mammary cancer cell line CAMA-1 synchronized at the G1/S boundary by thymidine block or at the G1/M boundary by nocodazole was used to evaluate 1) the sensitivity of a specific cell cycle phase or phases to 17 beta-estradiol (E2), 2) the effect of E2 on cell cycle kinetics, and 3) the resultant E2 effect on cell proliferation. In synchronized G1/S cells, E2-induced 3H-thymidine uptake, which indicated a newly formed S population, was observed only when E2 was added during, but not after, thymidine synchronization. Synchronized G2/M cells, enriched by Percoll gradient centrifugation to approximately 90% mitotic cells, responded to E2 added immediately following selection; the total E2-treated population traversed the cycle faster and reached S phase approximately 4 hr earlier than cells not exposed to E2. When E2 was added during the last hour of synchronization (ie, at late G2 or G2/M), or for 1 hr during mitotic cell enrichment, a mixed response occurred: a small portion had an accelerated G1 exit, while the majority of cells behaved the same as controls not incubated with E2. When E2 addition was delayed until 2 hr, 7 hr, or 12 hr following cell selection, to allow many early G1 phase cells to miss E2 exposure, the response to E2 was again mixed. When E2 was added during the 16 hr of nocodazole synchronization, when cells were largely at S or possibly at early G2, it inhibited entry into S phase. The E2-induced increase or decrease of S phase cells in the nocodazole experiments also showed corresponding changes in mitotic index and cell number. These results showed that the early G1 phase and possibly the G2/M phase are sensitive to E2 stimulation, late G1, G1/S, or G2 are refractory; the E2 stimualtion of cell proliferation is due primarily to an increased proportion of G1 cells that traverse the cell cycle and a shortened G1 period, E2 does not facilitate faster cell division; and estrogen-induced cell proliferation or G1/S transition occurs only when very early G1 phase cells are exposed to estrogen. These results are consistent with the constant transition probability hypothesis, that is, E2 alters the probability of cells entering into DNA synthesis without significantly affecting the duration of other cell cycle phases. Results from this study provide new information for further studies aimed at elucidating E2-modulated G1 events related to tumor growth.     

Analysis of the Cell Cycle and a Method Employing Synchronized Cells for Study of Protein Expression at Various Stages of the Cell Cycle

Study of protein expression during the cell cycle requires preparation of pure fractions of cells at various phases of the cell cycle. This was achieved by the development of methods for cell synchronization. Successful cell synchronization requires knowledge of the duration of all phases of the cell cycle. So, in the present review these interrelated problems are considered together. The first part of this review deals with basic methods employed for analysis of duration of cell cycle phases. The second summarizes data on treatments used for cell synchronization. Methods for calculation of percent of cells at various stages of the cell cycle in fractions of synchronized cells are considered in the third part. The fourth part of this review deals with a method of study of protein expression during the cell cycle by means of immunoblotting of synchronized cell fractions. In the Appendix, basic principles are illustrated with practical examples of analysis of the cell cycle, synchronization, and study of expression of some proteins at various stages of the cell cycle using synchronized XL2 (Xenopus laevis) cells.     

Dna-end binding activity of Ku in synchronized cells

Three different types of cells were synchronized by various methods and DNA-end binding (DEB) activities of Ku were compared with asynchronous controls. In CHO K1 cells synchronized in G1 phase by serum starvation and in S phase by serum refeeding, DEB activity was reduced in S cells but remained unchanged in G1 cells. However, the same type of cells synchronized in G1/S phase by double thymidine block and in S phase by releasing the blockage, have the same DEB activity as asynchronous controls. A similar result was found in RKO and HeLa cells synchronized by the latter method. Arresting cells in mitosis with nocodazole also generated different cell cycle effects. Ku activity was reduced in CHO K1 and RKO cells, but not in HeLa cells after treatment with nocodazole. In phase-enriched cells separated by centrifugal elutriation, DEB activities were similar at different stages of the cell cycle in all three types of cells. Thus, different synchronization procedures can give very different values of Ku activity in a cell type-dependent manner. Results from elutriated cells are consistent, and suggest DEB activity of Ku does not change with the cell cycle.     

Effect of serum starvation and chemical inhibitors on cell cycle synchronization of canine dermal fibroblasts

The cell cycle stage of donor cells and the method of cell cycle synchronization are important factors influencing the success of somatic cell nuclear transfer. In this study, we examined the effects of serum starvation, culture to confluence, and treatment with chemical inhibitors (roscovitine, aphidicolin, and colchicine) on cell cycle characteristics of canine dermal fibroblast cells. The effect of the various methods of cell cycle synchronization was determined by flow cytometry. Short periods of serum starvation (24-72 h) increased (P<0.05) the proportion of cells at the G0/G1 phase (88.4-90.9%) as compared to the control group (73.6%). A similar increase in the percentage of G0/G1 (P<0.05) cells were obtained in the culture to confluency group (91.8%). Treatment with various concentrations of roscovitine did not increase the proportion of G0/G1 cells; conversely, at concentrations of 30 and 45 microM, it increased (P<0.05) the percentage of cells that underwent apoptosis. The use of aphidicolin led to increase percentages of cells at the S phase in a dose-dependent manner, without increasing apoptosis. Colchicine, at a concentration of 0.1 microg/mL, increased the proportion of cells at the G2/M phase (38.5%, P<0.05); conversely, it decreased the proportions of G0/G1 cells (51.4%, P<0.05). Concentrations of colchicines >0.1 microg/mL did not increase the percentage of G2/M phase cells. The effects of chemical inhibitors were fully reversible; their removal led to a rapid progression in the cell cycle. In conclusion, canine dermal fibroblasts were effectively synchronized at various stages of the cell cycle, which could have benefits for somatic cell nuclear transfer in this species.     

Roles of proteasomes in cell growth

Proteasomes are large, unique protein complexes catalyzing energy- and ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. Recent studies have revealed that these complexes are involved in two important cellular functions. One is to make antigen fragments for major histo-compatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted antigen presentation and the other is to regulate the cell cycle by proteolysis. Here we review only the latter function of proteasomes. Proteasomes are widely distributed in eukaryotic cells, but their levels have been shown to be particularly high in various immature cells, such as cancerous, fetal and lymphoblastic cells, and agents inducing cell differentiation were found to suppress their expression. These conditions also regulate the expression of ubiquitin genes in a similar way, suggesting that proteasomes act ubiquitin-dependently in their 26S form in immature cells. High levels of proteasomes were found immunochemically in the nuclei of rapidly growing cells, indicating that proteasomes are important for eukaryotic cell growth. Indeed, gene disruptions of most subunits of proteasomes in yeast resulted in total suppression of cell growth and cell death. Short-lived regulatory factors of the cell cycle, such as Fos, p53, Mos, and cyclins are degraded by the proteasome-ubiquitin pathway under phosphorylated or dephosphorylated conditions. Ornithine decarboxylase, which is also a short-lived enzyme and is involved in the early phase of cell growth, is quickly degraded by proteasomes with antizyme, but without ubiquitination. Recently, we found that one of the regulatory factors of 26S proteasomes, p31, is a homologue of Ninlp, whose mutation caused inhibition of the cell cycle in yeast. These results indicate that proteasomes play important roles in regulation of the cell cycle in eukaryotes.     

Synchronization of carrot cell culture by starvation and cold treatment

When a suspension culture of carrot cells in the early stationary phase was allowed to stand at 4 °C for 72 h, the cell population was partially synchronized in relation to their division cycle. Judging from a pattern of increase of cell number, two steps in the cell cycle are thought to be sensitive to these treatments. When an additional cold treatment was applied to the culture, degree of synchronization was markedly increased. Protein content in a synchronized culture increased in a stepwise fashion as well as DNA while RNA increased continuously.     

A Stochastic Model Correctly Predicts Changes in Budding Yeast Cell Cycle Dynamics upon Periodic Expression of CLN2

In this study, we focus on a recent stochastic budding yeast cell cycle model. First, we estimate the model parameters using extensive data sets: phenotypes of 110 genetic strains, single cell statistics of wild type and cln3 strains. Optimization of stochastic model parameters is achieved by an automated algorithm we recently used for a deterministic cell cycle model. Next, in order to test the predictive ability of the stochastic model, we focus on a recent experimental study in which forced periodic expression of CLN2 cyclin (driven by MET3 promoter in cln3 background) has been used to synchronize budding yeast cell colonies. We demonstrate that the model correctly predicts the experimentally observed synchronization levels and cell cycle statistics of mother and daughter cells under various experimental conditions (numerical data that is not enforced in parameter optimization), in addition to correctly predicting the qualitative changes in size control due to forced CLN2 expression. Our model also generates a novel prediction: under frequent CLN2 expression pulses, G1 phase duration is bimodal among small-born cells. These cells originate from daughters with extended budded periods due to size control during the budded period. This novel prediction and the experimental trends captured by the model illustrate the interplay between cell cycle dynamics, synchronization of cell colonies, and size control in budding yeast.     

Metabolic state and cell cycle as determinants of facilitated uptake of genetic information by yeast <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis>

The transformation efficiency of yeast cells during exponential growth might be characterised as undulatory. The aim of the study was to investigate the reason for the fluctuation in transformation efficiency of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae p63-DC5 cells during exponential growth. The heightened response to exogenous DNA was observed with the growing yeast culture when budded cells were predominant. To confirm this phenomenon we carried out synchronization of yeast cells with 10 mM hydroxyurea. Results showed that synchronous yeast cells in the S-phase of cell cycle have enhanced transformation efficiency. Furthermore, S. cerevisiae p63-DC5 cells in the S-phase were successfully transformed with plasmid pl13 in the absence of lithium acetate. We indicated that the permeability of yeast cells in the S-phase to tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP) cations was significantly higher than in asynchronous culture. The results of our study showed that the fluctuation in transformation efficiency was strictly dependent on the metabolic state of yeast cells and the capacity of the yeast cells to become competent was related to the S-phase of cell cycle.     

A filamentous growth response mediated by the yeast mating pathway.

Haploid cells of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae respond to mating pheromones by arresting their cell-division cycle in G1 and differentiating into a cell type capable of locating and fusing with mating partners. Yeast cells undergo chemotactic cell surface growth when pheromones are present above a threshold level for morphogenesis; however, the morphogenetic responses of cells to levels of pheromone below this threshold have not been systematically explored. Here we show that MATa haploid cells exposed to low levels of the alpha-factor mating pheromone undergo a novel cellular response: cells modulate their division patterns and cell shape, forming colonies composed of filamentous chains of cells. Time-lapse analysis of filament formation shows that its dynamics are distinct from that of pseudohyphal growth; during pheromone-induced filament formation, daughter cells are delayed relative to mother cells with respect to the timing of bud emergence. Filament formation requires the RSR1(BUD1), BUD8, SLK1/BCK1, and SPA2 genes and many elements of the STE11/STE7 MAP kinase pathway; this response is also independent of FAR1, a gene involved in orienting cell polarization during the mating response. We suggest that mating yeast cells undergo a complex response to low levels of pheromone that may enhance the ability of cells to search for mating partners through the modification of cell shape and alteration of cell-division patterns.     

The effect of cell synchronization upon the detection of T and B lymphoid cell receptors on two continuous lymphoid cell lines

Summary In the present study, the effect of the cell synchronization on the detection of T and B cell surface markers of two continuous lines of lymphoid cells (FL-74 and CT45-S) was examined. Suspension cultures were synchronized by deprivation of isoleucine and surface markers were quantitated by T rosette formation with guinea pig erythrocytes (E) and B rosette formation with an erythrocyte-antibody-complement (EAC) complex. After 24 hr, cells were resuspended in complete culture medium. Virtually 100% of FL-74 cells expressed the T cell marker at time 0, with a progressive decline to 80% at saturation density. A bell-shaped curve for expression of the EAC marker on CT45-S cells was seen with maximum expression in the logarithmic phase of the growth cycle. Spent culture medium was examined for the presence of free soluble receptor. Preincubation of E and EAC in appropriate old medium resulted in 42% inhibition of E rosettes and 42% inhibition of EAC rosettes with FL-74 and CT45-S cells, respectively. Thus quantitation of lymphocyte subpopulations as B, T or null cells with these cellular markers may be influenced by the age of the cell examined, phase of the cell cycle and the amount of free receptor present in the surrounding medium. This research was supported in part by contract NO1 CP 5-3571 with the Virus Cancer Program of the NCI, NIH, PHS grant no. 2 RO1 A1-09022-07, Allergy and Infectious Diseases NIH, PHS and The State of Ohio Canine Research Funds.     

Cell Cycle Synchronization of the Murine EO771 Cell Line Using Double Thymidine Block Treatment

This study shows that double thymidine block treatment efficiently arrests the EO771 cells in the S-phase without altering cell growth or survival. A long-term analysis of cell behavior, using 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate N-succinimidyl ester (CFSE) staining, show synchronization to be stable and consistent over time. The EO771 cell line is a medullary breast-adenocarcinoma cell line isolated from a spontaneous murine mammary tumor, and can be used to generate murine tumor implantation models. Different biological (serum or amino acid deprivation), physical (elutriation, mitotic shake-off), or chemical (colchicine, nocodazole, thymidine) treatments are widely used for cell synchronization. Of the different methods tested, the double thymidine block is the most efficient for synchronization of murine EO771 cells if a large quantity of highly synchronized cells is recommended to study functional and biochemical events occurring in specific points of cell cycle progression.     

Identification of proteins whose synthesis is modulated during the cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We examined the synthesis and turnover of individual proteins in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle. Proteins were pulse-labeled with radioactive isotope (35S or 14C) in cells at discrete cycle stages and then resolved on two-dimensional gels and analyzed by a semiautomatic procedure for quantitating gel electropherogram-autoradiographs. The cells were obtained by one of three methods: (i) isolation of synchronous subpopulations of growing cells by zonal centrifugation.; (ii) fractionation of pulse-labeled steady-state cultures according to cell age; and (iii) synchronization of cells with the mating pheromone, alpha-factor. In confirmation of previous studies, we found that the histones H4, H2A, and H2B were synthesized almost exclusively in the late G1 and early S phases. In addition, we identified eight proteins whose rates of synthesis were modulated in the cell cycle, and nine proteins (of which five, which may well be related, were unstable, with half-lives of 10 to 15 min) that might be regulated in the cell cycle by periodic synthesis, modification, or degradation. Based on the time of maximal labeling in the cell cycle and on experiments with alpha-factor and hydroxyurea, we assigned the cell cycle proteins to two classes: proteins in class I were labeled principally in early G1 phase and at a late stage of the cycle, whereas those in class II were primarily synthesized at times ranging from late G1 to mid S phase. At least one major control point for the cell cycle proteins occurred between "start" and early S phase. A set of stress-responsive proteins was also identified and analyzed. The rates of synthesis of these proteins were affected by certain perturbations that resulted during selection of synchronous cell populations and by heat shock.