Loss of Cdc2 activity following Cyclin B degradation is necessary, but not sufficient, for mitotic exit. Proteins phosphorylated by Cdc2 and downstream mitotic kinases must also be dephosphorylated. We report here that protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) is the major catalyst of mitotic phosphoprotein dephosphorylation. Suppression of PP1 during early mitosis is maintained through the dual inhibition of PP1 by Cdc2 phosphorylation and the binding of Inhibitor-1 (I1), which is facilitated by PKA-mediated I1 phosphorylation. As Cdc2 levels drop following Cyclin B degradation, autodephosphorylation of PP1 at the site of Cdc2 phosphorylation (T320) allows partial PP1 activation. This promotes PP1-regulated dephosphorylation of I1 at its activating site (T35), dissociation of the I1-PP1 complex, and full PP1 activation to promote mitotic exit. Thus, Cdc2 both phosphorylates multiple mitotic substrates and inhibits their PP1-mediated dephosphorylation.

Before fertilization, vertebrate eggs are arrested in meiosis II by cytostatic factor (CSF), which holds the anaphase-promoting complex (APC) in an inactive state. It was recently reported that Mos, an integral component of CSF, acts in part by promoting the Rsk-mediated phosphorylation of the APC inhibitor Emi2/Erp1. We report here that Rsk phosphorylation of Emi2 promotes its interaction with the protein phosphatase PP2A. Emi2 residues adjacent to the Rsk phosphorylation site were important for PP2A binding. An Emi2 mutant that retained Rsk phosphorylation but lacked PP2A binding could not be modulated by Mos. PP2A bound to Emi2 acted on two distinct clusters of sites phosphorylated by Cdc2, one responsible for modulating its stability during CSF arrest and one that controls binding to the APC. These findings provide a molecular mechanism for Mos action in promoting CSF arrest and also define an unusual mechanism, whereby protein phosphorylation recruits a phosphatase for dephosphorylation of distinct sites phosphorylated by another kinase.

Mitochondria form an interconnected network that undergoes dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1)-dependent fission during mitosis. We demonstrate that changes in mitochondrial dynamics as cells exit mitosis are driven through ubiquitylation of Drp1 by the (anaphase- promoting complex/cyclosome and its coactivator Cdh1) APC/CCdh1 complex. Inhibition Drp1 degradation prevents the normal regrowth of mitochondrial networks during G1 phase.

The human cytochrome P450 (P450) superfamily consists of membrane-bound proteins that metabolize a myriad of xenobiotics and endogenous compounds. Quantification of P450 expression in various tissues under normal and induced conditions has an important role in drug safety and efficacy. Conventional immunoquantification methods have poor dynamic range, low throughput, and a limited number of specific antibodies. Recent advances in MS-based quantitative proteomics enable absolute protein quantification in a complex biological mixture. We have developed a gel-free MS-based protein quantification strategy to quantify CYP3A enzymes in human liver microsomes (HLM). Recombinant protein-derived proteotypic peptides and synthetic stable isotope-labeled proteotypic peptides were used as calibration standards and internal standards, respectively. The lower limit of quantification was approximately 20 fmol P450. In two separate panels of HLM examined (n = 11 and n = 22), CYP3A, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 concentrations were determined reproducibly (CV or=0.87) and marker activities (r(2)>or=0.88), including testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation (CYP3A), midazolam 1'-hydroxylation (CYP3A), itraconazole 6-hydroxylation (CYP3A4) and CYP3A5-mediated vincristine M1 formation (CYP3A5). Taken together, our MS-based method provides a specific, sensitive and reliable means of P450 protein quantification and should facilitate P450 characterization during drug development, especially when specific substrates and/or antibodies are unavailable.

SUMMARY Xenopus oocyte death is partly controlled by the apoptotic initiator, caspase-2. We reported previously that oocyte nutrient depletion activates caspase-2 upstream of mitochondrial cytochrome c release. Conversely, nutrient-replete oocytes inhibit caspase-2 via S135 phosphorylation catalyzed by calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. We now show that caspase-2 phosphorylated at S135 binds 14-3-3ζ, thus preventing caspase-2 dephosphorylation. Moreover, we determined that S135 dephosphorylation is catalyzed by protein phosphatase-1, which directly binds caspase-2. Although caspase-2 dephosphorylation is responsive to metabolism, neither PP1 activity nor binding is metabolically regulated. Rather, release of 14-3-3ζ from caspase-2 is controlled by metabolism and allows for caspase-2 dephosphorylation. Accordingly, a caspase-2 mutant unable to bind 14-3-3ζ is highly susceptible to dephosphorylation. Although this mechanism was initially established in Xenopus, we now demonstrate similar control of murine caspase-2 by phosphorylation and 14-3-3 binding in mouse eggs. These findings provide an unexpected evolutionary link between 14-3-3 and metabolism in oocyte death.

These results identify Aven as a new ATM activator and describe a positive feedback loop operating between Aven and ATM. In aggregate, these findings place Aven, a known apoptotic inhibitor, as a critical transducer of the DNA-damage signal.

ABSTRACT:CYP4F enzymes, including CYP4F2 and CYP4F3B, were recently shown to be the major enzymes catalyzing the initial oxidative O-demethylation of the antiparasitic prodrug pafuramidine (DB289) by human liver microsomes. As suggested by a low oral bioavailability, DB289 could undergo first-pass biotransformation in the intestine, as well as in the liver.

Vertebrate eggs are arrested at the metaphase stage of meiosis II. Only upon fertilization will the metaphase-IIarrested eggs exit meiosis II and enter interphase. In 1971, Masui and Markert injected egg extracts into a two-cell-stage embryo and found that the injected blastomere arrested at the next mitosis. On the basis of these observations, they proposed the existence of an activity present in the eggs that is responsible for meiosis-II arrest and can induce mitotic arrest, and named this activity cytostatic factor (CSF). Although the existence of CSF was hypothesized more than 35 years ago, its precise identity remained unclear until recently. The discovery of the Mos-MAPK pathway and characterization of the anaphasepromoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) as a central regulator of M-phase exit provided the framework for a molecular understanding of CSF. These pathways have now been linked by the discovery and characterization of the protein Emi2, a meiotic APC/C inhibitor, the activity and stability of which are controlled by the Mos-MAPK pathway. Continued investigation into the mechanism of action and mode of regulation of Emi2 promises to shed light not only on CSF function, but also on the general principles of APC/C regulation and the control of protein function by MAPK pathways. Accepted 11 September 2008 Journal of Cell Science 121, 3509-3514 Published by The Company of Biologists 2008Biologists doi:10.1242 Journal of Cell Science 3510 (Sagata et al., 1988). Exogenous introduction of Mos into one blastomere of a two-cell-stage embryo promoted a CSF-like arrest (Sagata et al., 1989). Importantly, both Mos protein and mRNA were rapidly degraded after fertilization (Lorca et al., 1991). Because Mos nicely satisfied the criteria proposed by Masui and Markert for CSF, Mos was proposed as the factor responsible for CSF arrest in vertebrate eggs. However, the detailed molecular mechanism linking Mos expression to metaphase-II arrest was, at that time, entirely undefined.The biochemical characterization of Mos revealed that it could act as a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase kinase (Posada et al., 1993). Furthermore, constitutively active MAPK was found to cause M-phase arrest in the dividing blastomere. In that the ability of Mos to confer CSF arrest was abrogated if MAPK kinase activity had been inactivated by either neutralizing antibody, MAPK phosphatase or pharmacological MAPK/extracellular signalregulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK) inhibitor, it was concluded that the MAPK-stimulatory activity of Mos accounted for its ability to promote MII arrest (Abrieu et al., 1996; Cross and Smythe, 1998; Gotoh and Nishida, 1995; Haccard et al., 1993; Kosako et al., 1994a; Kosako et al., 1994b). In 1999, this pathway was extended with the discovery of ribosomal S6 kinase (Rsk; also known as KS6A3), which acts downstream of MAPK (Bhatt and Ferrell, 1999; Gross et al., 1999). Similar to MAPK, constitutively active Rsk that was injected into one blastomere of a two-cell-stage embryo caused M-phase arre...