G Cyclin-Cdk Promotes Cell Cycle Entry Through Localized Phosphorylation of RNA Polymerase II

Overview

Journal Science

Specialty Science

Date 2021 Oct 14

PMID 34648313

Citations 31

Authors

Mardo Koivomagi

Matthew P Swaffer

Jonathan J Turner

Georgi Marinov

Jan M Skotheim

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cell division is thought to be initiated by cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) inactivating key transcriptional inhibitors. In budding yeast, the G cyclin Cln3-Cdk1 complex is thought to directly phosphorylate the Whi5 protein, thereby releasing the transcription factor SBF and committing cells to division. We report that Whi5 is a poor substrate of Cln3-Cdk1, which instead phosphorylates the RNA polymerase II subunit Rpb1’s C-terminal domain on S of its heptapeptide repeats. Cln3-Cdk1 binds SBF-regulated promoters and Cln3’s function can be performed by the canonical S kinase Ccl1-Kin28 when synthetically recruited to SBF. Thus, we propose that Cln3-Cdk1 triggers cell division by phosphorylating Rpb1 at SBF-regulated promoters to promote transcription. Our findings blur the distinction between cell cycle and transcriptional Cdks to highlight the ancient relationship between these two processes.

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