Distinct levels in Pom1 gradients limit Cdr2 activity and localization to time and position division

Live-cell imaging defines a threshold in CDK activity at the G2/M transition

Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) determines the temporal ordering of the cell cycle phases. However, despite significant progress in studying regulators of CDK and phosphorylation patterns of CDK substrates at the population level, it remains elusive how CDK regulators coordinately affect CDK activity at the single-cell level and how CDK controls the temporal order of cell cycle events. Here, we elucidate the dynamics of CDK activity in fission yeast and mammalian cells by developing a CDK activity biosensor, Eevee-spCDK. We find that although CDK activity does not necessarily correlate with cyclin levels, it converges to the same level around mitotic onset in several mutant backgrounds, including pom1Δ cells and wee1 or cdc25 overexpressing cells. These data provide direct evidence that cells enter the M phase when CDK activity reaches a high threshold, consistent with the quantitative model of cell cycle progression in fission yeast.

Polarity kinases that phosphorylate F-BAR protein Cdc15 have unique localization patterns during cytokinesis and contributions to preventing tip septation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe F-BAR protein, Cdc15, facilitates the linkage between the cytokinetic ring and the plasma membrane. Cdc15 is phosphorylated on many sites by four polarity kinases and this antagonizes membrane interaction. Dephosphorylation of Cdc15 during mitosis induces its phase separation, allowing oligomerization, membrane association, and protein partner binding. Here, using live cell imaging we examined whether spatial separation of Cdc15 from its four identified kinases potentially explains their diverse effects on tip septation and the mitotic Cdc15 phosphorylation state. We identified a correlation between kinase localization and their ability to antagonize Cdc15 cytokinetic ring and membrane localization.

Multiple polarity kinases inhibit phase separation of F-BAR protein Cdc15 and antagonize cytokinetic ring assembly in fission yeast

The F-BAR protein Cdc15 is essential for cytokinesis in Schizosaccharomyces pombe and plays a key role in attaching the cytokinetic ring (CR) to the plasma membrane (PM). Cdc15's abilities to bind to the membrane and oligomerize via its F-BAR domain are inhibited by phosphorylation of its intrinsically disordered region (IDR). Multiple cell polarity kinases regulate Cdc15 IDR phosphostate, and of these the DYRK kinase Pom1 phosphorylation sites on Cdc15 have been shown in vivo to prevent CR formation at cell tips. Here, we compared the ability of Pom1 to control Cdc15 phosphostate and cortical localization to that of other Cdc15 kinases: Kin1, Pck1, and Shk1. We identified distinct but overlapping cohorts of Cdc15 phosphorylation sites targeted by each kinase, and the number of sites correlated with each kinases' abilities to influence Cdc15 PM localization. Coarse-grained simulations predicted that cumulative IDR phosphorylation moves the IDRs of a dimer apart and toward the F-BAR tips. Further, simulations indicated that the overall negative charge of phosphorylation masks positively charged amino acids necessary for F-BAR oligomerization and membrane interaction. Finally, simulations suggested that dephosphorylated Cdc15 undergoes phase separation driven by IDR interactions. Indeed, dephosphorylated but not phosphorylated Cdc15 undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation to form droplets in vitro that recruit Cdc15 binding partners. In cells, Cdc15 phosphomutants also formed PM-bound condensates that recruit other CR components. Together, we propose that a threshold of Cdc15 phosphorylation by assorted kinases prevents Cdc15 condensation on the PM and antagonizes CR assembly.

Regulation of cell size and Wee1 kinase by elevated levels of the cell cycle regulatory protein kinase Cdr2

Many cell cycle regulatory proteins catalyze cell cycle progression in a concentration-dependent manner. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the protein kinase Cdr2 promotes mitotic entry by organizing cortical oligomeric nodes that lead to inhibition of Wee1, which itself inhibits the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk1. cdr2Δ cells lack nodes and divide at increased size due to overactive Wee1, but it has not been known how increased Cdr2 levels might impact Wee1 and cell size. It also has not been clear if and how Cdr2 might regulate Wee1 in the absence of the related kinase Cdr1/Nim1. Using a tetracycline-inducible expression system, we found that a 6× increase in Cdr2 expression caused hyperphosphorylation of Wee1 and reduction in cell size even in the absence of Cdr1/Nim1. This overexpressed Cdr2 formed clusters that sequestered Wee1 adjacent to the nuclear envelope. Cdr2 mutants that disrupt either kinase activity or clustering ability failed to sequester Wee1 and to reduce cell size. We propose that Cdr2 acts as a dosage-dependent regulator of cell size by sequestering its substrate Wee1 in cytoplasmic clusters, away from Cdk1 in the nucleus. This mechanism has implications for other clustered kinases, which may act similarly by sequestering substrates.

What programs the size of animal cells?

The human body is programmed with definite quantities, magnitudes, and proportions. At the microscopic level, such definite sizes manifest in individual cells - different cell types are characterized by distinct cell sizes whereas cells of the same type are highly uniform in size. How do cells in a population maintain uniformity in cell size, and how are changes in target size programmed? A convergence of recent and historical studies suggest - just as a thermostat maintains room temperature - the size of proliferating animal cells is similarly maintained by homeostatic mechanisms. In this review, we first summarize old and new literature on the existence of cell size checkpoints, then discuss additional advances in the study of size homeostasis that involve feedback regulation of cellular growth rate. We further discuss recent progress on the molecules that underlie cell size checkpoints and mechanisms that specify target size setpoints. Lastly, we discuss a less-well explored teleological question: why does cell size matter and what is the functional importance of cell size control?

The number of cytokinesis nodes in mitotic fission yeast scales with cell size

Cytokinesis nodes are assemblies of stoichiometric ratios of proteins associated with the plasma membrane, which serve as precursors for the contractile ring during cytokinesis by fission yeast. The total number of nodes is uncertain, because of the limitations of the methods used previously. Here, we used the ~140 nm resolution of Airyscan super-resolution microscopy to measure the fluorescence intensity of small, single cytokinesis nodes marked with Blt1-mEGFP in live fission yeast cells early in mitosis. The ratio of the total Blt1-mEGFP fluorescence in the broad band of cytokinesis nodes to the average fluorescence of a single node gives about 190 single cytokinesis nodes in wild-type fission yeast cells early in mitosis. Most, but not all of these nodes condense into a contractile ring. The number of cytokinesis nodes scales with cell size in four strains tested, although large diameter rga4Δ mutant cells form somewhat fewer cytokinesis nodes than expected from the overall trend. The Pom1 kinase restricts cytokinesis nodes from the ends of cells, but the surface density of Pom1 on the plasma membrane around the equators of cells is similar with a wide range of node numbers, so Pom1 does not control cytokinesis node number. However, when the concentrations of either kinase Pom1 or kinase Cdr2 were varied with the nmt1 promoter, the numbers of cytokinesis nodes increased above a baseline of about ~190 with the total cellular concentration of either kinase.

Arf6 anchors Cdr2 nodes at the cell cortex to control cell size at division

Fission yeast cells prevent mitotic entry until a threshold cell surface area is reached. The protein kinase Cdr2 contributes to this size control system by forming multiprotein nodes that inhibit Wee1 at the medial cell cortex. Cdr2 node anchoring at the cell cortex is not fully understood. Through a genomic screen, we identified the conserved GTPase Arf6 as a component of Cdr2 signaling. Cells lacking Arf6 failed to divide at a threshold surface area and instead shifted to volume-based divisions at increased overall size. Arf6 stably localized to Cdr2 nodes in its GTP-bound but not GDP-bound state, and its guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), Syt22, was required for both Arf6 node localization and proper size at division. In arf6Δ mutants, Cdr2 nodes detached from the membrane and exhibited increased dynamics. These defects were enhanced when arf6Δ was combined with other node mutants. Our work identifies a regulated anchor for Cdr2 nodes that is required for cells to sense surface area.

Pattern Formation and Complexity in Single Cells

In the context of animal or plant development, we tend to think of cells as small, simple, building blocks, such that complex patterns or shapes can only be constructed from large numbers of cells, with cells in different parts of the organism taking on different fates. However, cells themselves are far from simple, and often take on complex shapes with a remarkable degree of intracellular patterning. How do these patterns arise? As in embryogenesis, the development of structure inside a cell can be broken down into a number of basic processes. For each part of the cell, morphogenetic processes create internal structures such as organelles, which might correspond to organs at the level of a whole organism. Given that mechanisms exist to generate parts, patterning processes are required to ensure that the parts are distributed in the correct arrangement relative to the rest of the cell. Such patterning processes make reference to global polarity axes, requiring mechanisms for axiation which, in turn, require processes to break symmetry. These fundamental processes of symmetry breaking, axiation, patterning, and morphogenesis have been extensively studied in developmental biology but less so at the subcellular level. This review will focus on developmental processes that give eukaryotic cells their complex structures, with a focus on cytoskeletal organization in free-living cells, ciliates in particular, in which these processes are most readily apparent.

Direct and indirect regulation of Pom1 cell size pathway by the protein phosphatase 2C Ptc1

The fission yeast cells Schizosaccharomyces pombe divide at constant cell size regulated by environmental stimuli. An important pathway of cell size control involves the membrane-associated DYRK-family kinase Pom1, which forms decreasing concentration gradients from cell poles and inhibits mitotic inducers at midcell. Here, we identify the phosphatase 2C Ptc1 as negative regulator of Pom1. Ptc1 localizes to cell poles in a manner dependent on polarity and cell-wall integrity factors. We show that Ptc1 directly binds Pom1 and can dephosphorylate it in vitro but modulates Pom1 localization indirectly upon growth in low-glucose conditions by influencing microtubule stability. Thus, Ptc1 phosphatase plays both direct and indirect roles in the Pom1 cell size control pathway.

DYRK kinase Pom1 drives F-BAR protein Cdc15 from the membrane to promote medial division

In many organisms, positive and negative signals cooperate to position the division site for cytokinesis. In the rod-shaped fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, symmetric division is achieved through anillin/Mid1-dependent positive cues released from the central nucleus and negative signals from the DYRK-family polarity kinase Pom1 at cell tips. Here we establish that Pom1's kinase activity prevents septation at cell tips even if Mid1 is absent or mislocalized. We also find that Pom1 phosphorylation of F-BAR protein Cdc15, a major scaffold of the division apparatus, disrupts Cdc15's ability to bind membranes and paxillin, Pxl1, thereby inhibiting Cdc15's function in cytokinesis. A Cdc15 mutant carrying phosphomimetic versions of Pom1 sites or deletion of Cdc15 binding partners suppresses division at cell tips in cells lacking both Mid1 and Pom1 signals. Thus, inhibition of Cdc15-scaffolded septum formation at cell poles is a key Pom1 mechanism that ensures medial division.

A new identified suppressor of Cdc7p/SepH kinase, PomA, regulates fungal asexual reproduction via affecting phosphorylation of MAPK-HogA

The septation initiation network (SIN), composed of a conserved SepH (Cdc7p) kinase cascade, plays an essential role in fungal cytokinesis/septation and conidiation for asexual reproduction, while the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway depends on successive signaling cascade phosphorylation to sense and respond to stress and environmental factors. In this study, a SepH suppressor-PomA in the filamentous fungus A. nidulans is identified as a negative regulator of septation and conidiation such that the pomA mutant is able to cure defects of sepH1 in septation and conidiation and overexpression of pomA remarkably suppresses septation. Under the normal cultural condition, SepH positively regulates the phosphorylation of MAPK-HogA, while PomA reversely affects this process. In the absence of PbsB (MAPKK, a putative upstream member of HogA), PomA and SepH are unable to affect the phosphorylation level of HogA. Under the osmostress condition, the induced phosphorylated HogA is capable of bypassing the requirement of SepH, a key player for early events during cytokinesis but not for MobA/SidB, the last one in the core SIN protein kinase cascade, indicating the osmotic stimuli-induced septation is capable of bypassing requirement of SepH but unable to bypass the whole SIN requirement. Findings demonstrate that crosstalk exists between the SIN and MAPK pathways. PomA and SepH indirectly regulate HogA phosphorylation through affecting HogA-P upstream kinases.

Multi-phosphorylation reaction and clustering tune Pom1 gradient mid-cell levels according to cell size

Protein concentration gradients pattern developing organisms and single cells. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe rod-shaped cells, Pom1 kinase forms gradients with maxima at cell poles. Pom1 controls the timing of mitotic entry by inhibiting Cdr2, which forms stable membrane-associated nodes at mid-cell. Pom1 gradients rely on membrane association regulated by a phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cycle and lateral diffusion modulated by clustering. Using quantitative PALM imaging, we find individual Pom1 molecules bind the membrane too transiently to diffuse from pole to mid-cell. Instead, we propose they exchange within longer lived clusters forming the functional gradient unit. An allelic series blocking auto-phosphorylation shows that multi-phosphorylation shapes and buffers the gradient to control mid-cell levels, which represent the critical Cdr2-regulating pool. TIRF imaging of this cortical pool demonstrates more Pom1 overlaps with Cdr2 in short than long cells, consistent with Pom1 inhibition of Cdr2 decreasing with cell growth. Thus, the gradients modulate Pom1 mid-cell levels according to cell size.

All organisms need to know how to arrange different cell types during the development of their organs and tissues. This information is provided by protein concentration patterns, or gradients, that tell cells how to behave based on where they are positioned. The same fundamental principles also work on a smaller scale. For example, although the rod-shaped yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is a single-celled organism, it uses protein concentration gradients to control its growth and timing of division.

Before S. pombe cells divide, they need to check that they have reached the right size. Several mechanisms contribute to this information. One of them involves a concentration gradient of a protein known as Pom1, which is found on the cell membrane, with more protein at the cell extremities and less towards the middle. Pom1 serves to block the activity of Cdr2 – an enzyme that localizes to the cell middle and controls cell division. An open question has been whether Pom1 levels at the center drop as the cell grows, coordinating growth and division.

One explanation for how the Pom1 gradient could be regulated is by the removal and addition of phosphate groups. At the cell’s tip, an enzyme removes phosphate groups from Pom1, causing it to bind to the membrane. As Pom1 diffuses along the membrane, it continuously ‘re-phosphorylates’ itself. This promotes Pom1 to gradually detach, restricting it from spreading along the membrane towards the cell middle. Another explanation is that clusters of Pom1, formed at the membrane, help establish a gradient by moving along the membrane at different rates: larger clusters, formed in high concentration areas, move slower than smaller clusters, causing levels of Pom1 to be higher at the tip, and lower towards the middle. Now, Gerganova et al. set out to find which of these two processes contributes more to shaping the Pom1 gradient, and determine where Pom1 acts on Cdr2.

Gerganova et al. used super resolution microscopy to track individual Pom1 molecules inside yeast cells. This revealed two findings. First, that individual Pom1 molecules do not travel all the way from the cell tip to the center, but ‘hop’ between clusters as they move towards the middle. Second, in longer cells levels of Pom1 on the membrane drop at the center, where Pom1 encounters Cdr2. As a result, Cdr2 will come across higher levels of Pom1 in short cells, but low levels of Pom1 in long cells. This allows Pom1 to act as a measure of cell size, preventing short cells from dividing too soon.

The role of clusters in creating gradients is not only relevant for yeast cell division. It could potentially apply to the gradients that organize cells and tissues in different organisms. Future work could examine whether similar principles apply in more complex systems.

Stable Pom1 clusters form a glucose-modulated concentration gradient that regulates mitotic entry

Control of cell size requires molecular size sensors that are coupled to the cell cycle. Rod-shaped fission yeast cells divide at a threshold size partly due to Cdr2 kinase, which forms nodes at the medial cell cortex where it inhibits the Cdk1-inhibitor Wee1. Pom1 kinase phosphorylates and inhibits Cdr2, and forms cortical concentration gradients from cell poles. Pom1 inhibits Cdr2 signaling to Wee1 specifically in small cells, but the time and place of their regulatory interactions were unclear. We show that Pom1 forms stable oligomeric clusters that dynamically sample the cell cortex. Binding frequency is patterned into a concentration gradient by the polarity landmarks Tea1 and Tea4. Pom1 clusters colocalize with Cdr2 nodes, forming a glucose-modulated inhibitory threshold against node activation. Our work reveals how Pom1-Cdr2-Wee1 operates in multiprotein clusters at the cortex to promote mitotic entry at a cell size that can be modified by nutrient availability.

Yeast-to-hypha transition of Schizosaccharomyces japonicus in response to environmental stimuli

Many fungal species are dimorphic, exhibiting both unicellular yeast-like and filamentous forms. Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, a member of the fission yeast clade, is one such dimorphic fungus. Here, we first identify fruit extracts as natural, stress-free, starvation-independent inducers of filamentation, which we use to describe the properties of the dimorphic switch. During the yeast-to-hypha transition, the cell evolves from a bipolar to a unipolar system with 10-fold accelerated polarized growth but constant width, vacuoles segregated to the nongrowing half of the cell, and hyper-lengthening of the cell. We demonstrate unusual features of S. japonicus hyphae: these cells lack a Spitzenkörper, a vesicle distribution center at the hyphal tip, but display more rapid cytoskeleton-based transport than the yeast form, with actin cables being essential for the transition. S. japonicus hyphae also remain mononuclear and undergo complete cell divisions, which are highly asymmetric: one daughter cell inherits the vacuole, the other the growing tip. We show that these elongated cells scale their nuclear size, spindle length, and elongation rates, but display altered division size controls. This establishes S. japonicus as a unique system that switches between symmetric and asymmetric modes of growth and division.

Reprogramming Cdr2-Dependent Geometry-Based Cell Size Control in Fission Yeast

How cell size is determined and maintained remains unclear, even in simple model organisms. In proliferating cells, cell size is regulated by coordinating growth and division through sizer, adder, or timer mechanisms or through some combination [1, 2]. Currently, the best-characterized example of sizer behavior is in fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which enters mitosis at a minimal cell size threshold. The peripheral membrane kinase Cdr2 localizes in clusters (nodes) on the medial plasma membrane and promotes mitotic entry [3]. Here, we show that the Cdr2 nodal density, which scales with cell size, is used by the cell to sense and control its size. By analyzing cells of different widths, we first show that cdr2+ cells divide at a fixed cell surface area. However, division in the cdr2Δ mutant is more closely specified by cell volume, suggesting that Cdr2 is essential for area sensing and supporting the existence of a Cdr2-independent secondary sizer mechanism more closely based on volume. To investigate how Cdr2 nodes may sense area, we derive a minimal mathematical model that incorporates the cytoplasmic kinase Ssp1 as a Cdr2 activator. The model predicts that a cdr2 mutant in an Ssp1 phosphorylation site (cdr2-T166A) [4] should form nodes whose density registers cell length. We confirm this prediction experimentally and find that thin cells now follow this new scaling by dividing at constant length instead of area. This work supports the role of Cdr2 as a sizer factor and highlights the importance of studying geometrical aspects of size control.

Multiple inputs ensure yeast cell size homeostasis during cell cycle progression

Coordination of cell growth with division is essential for proper cell function. In budding yeast, although some molecular mechanisms responsible for cell size control during G1 have been elucidated, the mechanism by which cell size homeostasis is established remains to be discovered. Here, we developed a new technique based on quantification of histone levels to monitor cell cycle progression in individual cells with unprecedented accuracy. Our analysis establishes the existence of a mechanism controlling bud size in G2/M that prevents premature onset of anaphase, and controls the overall size variability. While most G1 mutants do not display impaired size homeostasis, mutants in which cyclin B-Cdk regulation is altered display large size variability. Our study thus demonstrates that size homeostasis is not controlled by a G1-specific mechanism alone but is likely to be an emergent property resulting from the integration of several mechanisms that coordinate cell and bud growth with division.

Cell size sensing in animal cells coordinates anabolic growth rates and cell cycle progression to maintain cell size uniformity

Cell size uniformity in healthy tissues suggests that control mechanisms might coordinate cell growth and division. We derived a method to assay whether cellular growth rates depend on cell size, by monitoring how variance in size changes as cells grow. Our data revealed that, twice during the cell cycle, growth rates are selectively increased in small cells and reduced in large cells, ensuring cell size uniformity. This regulation was also observed directly by monitoring nuclear growth in live cells. We also detected cell-size-dependent adjustments of G1 length, which further reduce variability. Combining our assays with chemical/genetic perturbations confirmed that cells employ two strategies, adjusting both cell cycle length and growth rate, to maintain the appropriate size. Additionally, although Rb signaling is not required for these regulatory behaviors, perturbing Cdk4 activity still influences cell size, suggesting that the Cdk4 pathway may play a role in designating the cell’s target size.

Animal cells come in many different sizes. In humans, for example, egg cells are thousands of times larger than sperm cells. Yet cells of any given type are often strikingly similar in size. The cells that line the surface of organs including the skin and kidneys are especially uniform; in fact a loss of size uniformity in certain tumors is a sign of malignancy. What kind of regulation could enable separate cells within a tissue to have the same size?

One possibility is that each type of cell is programmed with a specific target size, and that a cell can sense if it strays from its target and take steps to compensate. Animal cells sensing their own size was first reported in the 1960s, and now Ginzberg et al. confirm that human cells grown in the laboratory do indeed monitor their size and correct deviations from their target. It turns out that two separate and independent processes help to keep all the cells in the population roughly uniform in size. Firstly, proliferating human cells that are smaller than their target size spend longer growing before they divide. Secondly, at two time points between cell divisions, large cells adjust their growth rate such that they grow slower than small cells.

To show these processes in action, Ginzberg et al. introduced mutations or chemicals that perturbed the length of time between cell divisions or the rate of a cell’s growth. As expected, most of these perturbations had only a modest influence on cell size, due to the cell’s compensatory strategies. Cells that had less time to grow compensated by more quickly making new protein molecules, meaning that they still had enough material to build two new cells by the time they had to divide. In contrast, if a cell’s division was artificially delayed, it reduced its growth rate to stop it from becoming too large. Similarly, cells grown in conditions that slow the production of proteins extended the time between their cell divisions to give them enough time to accumulate the material required for two new cells.

In a recent related study, Liu, Ginzberg et al. identified some of the molecules that a human cell uses to sense its own size. Together these two studies now pave the road to answering a fundamental question in cell biology: what is the elusive cell size sensor? Understanding how cells sense their size will open a window onto how quantitative information is programmed, sensed and communicated within living cells. These findings will shed also new light onto how cells specialize into cell types of different sizes, and what happens when cells lose the ability to sense or regulate their size in diseases like cancers.

Cell size-dependent regulation of Wee1 localization by Cdr2 cortical nodes

Cell size control requires mechanisms that link cell growth with Cdk1 activity. In fission yeast, the protein kinase Cdr2 forms cortical nodes that include the Cdk1 inhibitor Wee1 along with the Wee1-inhibitory kinase Cdr1. We investigated how nodes inhibit Wee1 during cell growth. Biochemical fractionation revealed that Cdr2 nodes were megadalton structures enriched for activated Cdr2, which increases in level during interphase growth. In live-cell total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy videos, Cdr2 and Cdr1 remained constant at nodes over time, but Wee1 localized to nodes in short bursts. Recruitment of Wee1 to nodes required Cdr2 kinase activity and the noncatalytic N terminus of Wee1. Bursts of Wee1 localization to nodes increased 20-fold as cells doubled in size throughout G2. Size-dependent signaling was caused in part by the Cdr2 inhibitor Pom1, which suppressed Wee1 node bursts in small cells. Thus, increasing Cdr2 activity during cell growth promotes Wee1 localization to nodes, where inhibitory phosphorylation of Wee1 by Cdr1 and Cdr2 kinases promotes mitotic entry.

Dynamic visits of cortical structures probe for cell size

Gerganova and Martin preview work from Allard et al. that describes the Wee1- and Cdr1/2-dependent mechanism by which cells link cell size with mitotic entry.

All cells show size homeostasis owing to coordination of division with growth. In this issue, Allard et al. (2018. J. Cell Biol.https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201709171) establish that transient inhibitory visits of a negative regulator of Cdk1 to cortical oligomeric platforms increase in number and duration with cell growth, suggesting how Cdk1 activation is coupled to cell size.

Equatorial Assembly of the Cell-Division Actomyosin Ring in the Absence of Cytokinetic Spatial Cues

The position of the division site dictates the size and fate of daughter cells in many organisms. In animal cells, division-site placement involves overlapping mechanisms, including signaling from the central spindle microtubules, astral microtubules, and spindle poles and through polar contractions [1, 2, 3]. In fission yeast, division-site positioning requires overlapping mechanisms involving the anillin-related protein Mid1 and the tip complex (comprising the Kelch-repeat protein Tea1, the Dyrk-kinase Pom1, and the SH3-domain protein Tea4) [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. In addition to these factors, cell shape has also been shown to participate in the maintenance of the position of the actomyosin ring [12, 13, 14]. The first principles guiding actomyosin ring placement, however, have not been elucidated in any organism. Because actomyosin ring positioning, ring assembly, and cell morphogenesis are genetically separable in fission yeast, we have used it to derive actomyosin ring placement mechanisms from first principles. We report that, during ring assembly in the absence of cytokinetic cues (anillin-related Mid1 and tip-complex proteins), actin bundles follow the path of least curvature and assemble actomyosin rings in an equatorial position in spherical protoplasts and along the long axis in cylindrical cells and compressed protoplasts. The equatorial position of rings is abolished upon treatment of protoplasts with an actin-severing compound or by slowing down actin polymerization. We propose that the physical properties of actin filaments/bundles play key roles in actomyosin ring assembly and positioning, and that key cytokinetic molecules may modulate the length of actin filaments to promote ring assembly along the short axis.

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Spheroplasts lacking cytokinetic spatial cues assemble equatorial actomyosin rings

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An actin-severing compound abolishes equatorial ring assembly in spheroplasts

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Actin bundles favor the path of least curvature in the absence of cytokinetic cues

Analysis of interphase node proteins in fission yeast by quantitative and superresolution fluorescence microscopy

We used quantitative confocal microscopy and FPALM superresolution microscopy of live fission yeast to investigate the structures and assembly of two types of interphase nodes-multiprotein complexes associated with the plasma membrane that merge together and mature into the precursors of the cytokinetic contractile ring. During the long G2 phase of the cell cycle, seven different interphase node proteins maintain constant concentrations as they accumulate in proportion to cell volume. During mitosis, the total numbers of type 1 node proteins (cell cycle kinases Cdr1p, Cdr2p, Wee1p, and anillin Mid1p) are constant even when the nodes disassemble. Quantitative measurements provide strong evidence that both types of nodes have defined sizes and numbers of constituent proteins, as observed for cytokinesis nodes. Type 1 nodes assemble in two phases-a burst at the end of mitosis, followed by steady increase during interphase to double the initial number. Type 2 nodes containing Blt1p, Rho-GEF Gef2p, and kinesin Klp8p remain intact throughout the cell cycle and are constituents of the contractile ring. They are released from the contractile ring as it disassembles and then associate with type 1 nodes around the equator of the cell during interphase.

Controlling cell size through sizer mechanisms

Cell size is partly determined through coordination between cell growth and division. How this coordination is achieved mechanistically remains mostly unknown. However, quantitative experiments together with computational modelling have reinvigorated the field and are elucidating underlying molecular processes. Size homeostasis may be achieved through different modes of regulation, including "sizers", "adders" and "timers." For sizer regulation, the cell division cycle does not proceed until a minimal size has been reached, requiring that the cell monitors its own size. Here, we highlight progress in defining sizer mechanisms in fission and budding yeasts showing how accumulation or dilution of key molecules can be used to monitor cell size during growth. We also discuss a potential role for sizers in bacterial size control.

Phosphatases Generate Signal Specificity Downstream of Ssp1 Kinase in Fission Yeast

AMPK-related protein kinases (ARKs) coordinate cell growth, proliferation, and migration with environmental status. It is unclear how specific ARKs are activated at specific times. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the CaMKK-like protein kinase Ssp1 promotes cell cycle progression by activating the ARK Cdr2 according to cell growth signals. Here, we demonstrate that Ssp1 activates a second ARK, Ssp2/AMPKα, for cell proliferation in low environmental glucose. Ssp1 activates these two related targets by the same biochemical mechanism: direct phosphorylation of a conserved residue in the activation loop (Cdr2-T166 and Ssp2-T189). Despite a shared upstream kinase and similar phosphorylation sites, Cdr2 and Ssp2 have distinct regulatory input cues and distinct functional outputs. We investigated this specificity and found that distinct protein phosphatases counteract Ssp1 activity toward its different substrates. We identified the PP6 family phosphatase Ppe1 as the primary phosphatase for Ssp2-T189 dephosphorylation. The phosphatase inhibitor Sds23 acts upstream of PP6 to regulate Ssp2-T189 phosphorylation in a manner that depends on energy but not on the intact AMPK heterotrimer. In contrast, Cdr2-T166 phosphorylation is regulated by protein phosphatase 2A but not by the Sds23-PP6 pathway. Thus, our study provides a phosphatase-driven mechanism to induce specific physiological responses downstream of a master protein kinase.

Size-Dependent Expression of the Mitotic Activator Cdc25 Suggests a Mechanism of Size Control in Fission Yeast

Proper cell size is essential for cellular function. Nonetheless, despite more than 100 years of work on the subject, the mechanisms that maintain cell-size homeostasis are largely mysterious [1]. Cells in growing populations maintain cell size within a narrow range by coordinating growth and division. Bacterial and eukaryotic cells both demonstrate homeostatic size control, which maintains population-level variation in cell size within a certain range and returns the population average to that range if it is perturbed [1, 2]. Recent work has proposed two different strategies for size control: budding yeast has been proposed to use an inhibitor-dilution strategy to regulate size at the G1/S transition [3], whereas bacteria appear to use an adder strategy, in which a fixed amount of growth each generation causes cell size to converge on a stable average [4-6]. Here we present evidence that cell size in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is regulated by a third strategy: the size-dependent expression of the mitotic activator Cdc25. cdc25 transcript levels are regulated such that smaller cells express less Cdc25 and larger cells express more Cdc25, creating an increasing concentration of Cdc25 as cells grow and providing a mechanism for cells to trigger cell division when they reach a threshold concentration of Cdc25. Because regulation of mitotic entry by Cdc25 is well conserved, this mechanism may provide a widespread solution to the problem of size control in eukaryotes.

SIN-Dependent Dissociation of the SAD Kinase Cdr2 from the Cell Cortex Resets the Division Plane

Proper division plane positioning is crucial for faithful chromosome segregation but also influences cell size, position, or fate [1]. In fission yeast, medial division is controlled through negative signaling by the cell tips during interphase and positive signaling by the centrally placed nucleus at mitotic entry [2-4]: the cell geometry network (CGN), controlled by the inhibitory cortical gradient of the DYRK kinase Pom1 emanating from the cell tips, first promotes the medial localization of cytokinetic ring precursors organized by the SAD kinase Cdr2 to pre-define the division plane [5-8]; then, massive nuclear export of the anillin-like protein Mid1 at mitosis entry confirms or readjusts the division plane according to nuclear position and triggers the assembly of a medial contractile ring [5, 9-11]. Strikingly, the Hippo-like septation initiation network (SIN) induces Cdr2 dissociation from cytokinetic precursors at this stage [12-14]. We show here that SIN-dependent phosphorylation of Cdr2 promotes its interaction with the 14-3-3 protein Rad24 that sequesters it in the cytoplasm during cell division. If this interaction is compromised, cytokinetic precursors are asymmetrically distributed in the cortex of newborn cells, leading to asymmetrical division if nuclear signaling is abolished. We conclude that, through this new function, the SIN resets the division plane in newborn cells to ensure medial division.

A genome-wide screen to identify genes controlling the rate of entry into mitosis in fission yeast

We have carried out a haploinsufficiency (HI) screen in fission yeast using heterozygous deletion diploid mutants of a genome-wide set of cell cycle genes to identify genes encoding products whose level determines the rate of progression through the cell cycle. Cell size at division was used as a measure of advancement or delay of the G2-M transition of rod-shaped fission yeast cells. We found that 13 mutants were significantly longer or shorter (greater than 10%) than control cells at cell division. These included mutants of the cdc2, cdc25, wee1 and pom1 genes, which have previously been shown to play a role in the timing of entry into mitosis, and which validate this approach. Seven of these genes are involved in regulation of the G2-M transition, 5 for nuclear transport and one for nucleotide metabolism. In addition we identified 4 more genes that were 8–10% longer or shorter than the control that also had roles in regulation of the G2-M transition or in nuclear transport. The genes identified here are all conserved in human cells, suggesting that this dataset will be useful as a basis for further studies to identify rate-limiting steps for progression through the cell cycle in other eukaryotes.

Sizing up to divide: mitotic cell-size control in fission yeast

Schizosaccharomyces pombe is a good model to study cell-size control. These cells integrate size information into cell cycle controls at both the G1/S and G2/M transitions, although the primary control operates at the entry into mitosis. At G2/M there is both a size threshold, demonstrated by the fact that cells divide when they reach 14 μm in length, and also correction around this threshold, evident from the narrow distribution of sizes within a population. This latter property is referred to as size homeostasis. It has been argued that a population of cells accumulating mass in a linear fashion will have size homeostasis in the absence of size control, if cycle time is controlled by a fixed timer. Because fission yeast cells do not grow in a simple linear fashion, they require a size-sensing mechanism. However, current models do not fully describe all aspects of this control, especially the coordination of cell size with ploidy.

Cell-Size Control

Cells of a given type maintain a characteristic cell size to function efficiently in their ecological or organismal context. They achieve this through the regulation of growth rates or by actively sensing size and coupling this signal to cell division. We focus this review on potential size-sensing mechanisms, including geometric, external cue, and titration mechanisms. Mechanisms that titrate proteins against DNA are of particular interest because they are consistent with the robust correlation of DNA content and cell size. We review the literature, which suggests that titration mechanisms may underlie cell-size sensing in Xenopus embryos, budding yeast, and Escherichia coli, whereas alternative mechanisms may function in fission yeast.

The septation initiation network controls the assembly of nodes containing Cdr2p for cytokinesis in fission yeast

In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, cortical protein structures called interphase nodes help to prepare the cell for cytokinesis by positioning precursors of the cytokinetic contractile ring, and the septation initiation network (SIN) regulates the onset of cytokinesis and septum formation. Previous work has noted that one type of interphase node disappears during mitosis providing SIN activity is high. Here, we used time-lapse fluorescence microscopy to provide evidence that SIN activity is necessary and sufficient to disperse the type 1 node proteins Cdr2p and Mid1p into the cytoplasm, so these nodes assemble only during interphase through early mitosis when SIN activity is low. Activating the SIN in interphase cells dispersed Cdr2p and anillin Mid1p from type 1 nodes a few min after the SIN kinase Cdc7p–GFP accumulated at spindle pole bodies. If the SIN was then turned off in interphase cells, Cdr2p and Mid1p reappeared in nodes in parallel with the decline in SIN activity. Hyperactivating SIN during mitosis dispersed type 1 nodes earlier than normal, and prolonged SIN activation prevented nodes from reforming at the end of mitosis.

Molecular control of fission yeast cytokinesis

Cytokinesis gives rise to two independent daughter cells at the end of the cell division cycle. The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has emerged as one of the most powerful systems to understand how cytokinesis is controlled molecularly. Like in most eukaryotes, fission yeast cytokinesis depends on an acto-myosin based contractile ring that assembles at the division site under the control of spatial cues that integrate information on cell geometry and the position of the mitotic apparatus. Cytokinetic events are also tightly coordinated with nuclear division by the cell cycle machinery. These spatial and temporal regulations ensure an equal cleavage of the cytoplasm and an accurate segregation of the genetic material in daughter cells. Although this model system has specificities, the basic mechanisms of contractile ring assembly and function deciphered in fission yeast are highly valuable to understand how cytokinesis is controlled in other organisms that rely on a contractile ring for cell division.

The DYRK-family kinase Pom1 phosphorylates the F-BAR protein Cdc15 to prevent division at cell poles

Division site positioning is critical for both symmetric and asymmetric cell divisions. In many organisms, positive and negative signals cooperate to position the contractile actin ring for cytokinesis. In rod-shaped fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells, division at midcell is achieved through positive Mid1/anillin-dependent signaling emanating from the central nucleus and negative signals from the dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase family kinase Pom1 at the cell poles. In this study, we show that Pom1 directly phosphorylates the F-BAR protein Cdc15, a central component of the cytokinetic ring. Pom1-dependent phosphorylation blocks Cdc15 binding to paxillin Pxl1 and C2 domain protein Fic1 and enhances Cdc15 dynamics. This promotes ring sliding from cell poles, which prevents septum assembly at the ends of cells with a displaced nucleus or lacking Mid1. Pom1 also slows down ring constriction. These results indicate that a strong negative signal from the Pom1 kinase at cell poles converts Cdc15 to its closed state, destabilizes the actomyosin ring, and thus promotes medial septation.

PKA antagonizes CLASP-dependent microtubule stabilization to re-localize Pom1 and buffer cell size upon glucose limitation

Cells couple growth with division and regulate size in response to nutrient availability. In rod-shaped fission yeast, cell-size control occurs at mitotic commitment. An important regulator is the DYRK-family kinase Pom1, which forms gradients from cell poles and inhibits the mitotic activator Cdr2, itself localized at the medial cortex. Where and when Pom1 modulates Cdr2 activity is unclear as Pom1 medial cortical levels remain constant during cell elongation. Here we show that Pom1 re-localizes to cell sides upon environmental glucose limitation, where it strongly delays mitosis. This re-localization is caused by severe microtubule destabilization upon glucose starvation, with microtubules undergoing catastrophe and depositing the Pom1 gradient nucleator Tea4 at cell sides. Microtubule destabilization requires PKA/Pka1 activity, which negatively regulates the microtubule rescue factor CLASP/Cls1/Peg1, reducing CLASP's ability to stabilize microtubules. Thus, PKA signalling tunes CLASP's activity to promote Pom1 cell side localization and buffer cell size upon glucose starvation.

Intracellular Scaling Mechanisms

Organelle function is often directly related to organelle size. However, it is not necessarily absolute size but the organelle-to-cell-size ratio that is critical. Larger cells generally have increased metabolic demands, must segregate DNA over larger distances, and require larger cytokinetic rings to divide. Thus, organelles often must scale to the size of the cell. The need for scaling is particularly acute during early development during which cell size can change rapidly. Here, we highlight scaling mechanisms for cellular structures as diverse as centrosomes, nuclei, and the mitotic spindle, and distinguish them from more general mechanisms of size control. In some cases, scaling is a consequence of the underlying mechanism of organelle size control. In others, size-control mechanisms are not obviously related to cell size, implying that scaling results indirectly from cell-size-dependent regulation of size-control mechanisms.

Pom1 gradient buffering through intermolecular auto-phosphorylation

Concentration gradients provide spatial information for tissue patterning and cell organization, and their robustness under natural fluctuations is an evolutionary advantage. In rod-shaped Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells, the DYRK-family kinase Pom1 gradients control cell division timing and placement. Upon dephosphorylation by a Tea4-phosphatase complex, Pom1 associates with the plasma membrane at cell poles, where it diffuses and detaches upon auto-phosphorylation. Here, we demonstrate that Pom1 auto-phosphorylates intermolecularly, both in vitro and in vivo, which confers robustness to the gradient. Quantitative imaging reveals this robustness through two system's properties: The Pom1 gradient amplitude is inversely correlated with its decay length and is buffered against fluctuations in Tea4 levels. A theoretical model of Pom1 gradient formation through intermolecular auto-phosphorylation predicts both properties qualitatively and quantitatively. This provides a telling example where gradient robustness through super-linear decay, a principle hypothesized a decade ago, is achieved through autocatalysis. Concentration-dependent autocatalysis may be a widely used simple feedback to buffer biological activities.

Molecular control of the Wee1 regulatory pathway by the SAD kinase Cdr2

Cell growth and division are tightly coordinated to maintain cell size constant during successive cell cycles. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the SAD kinase Cdr2 regulates the cell size at division and the positioning of the division plane. Cdr2 forms nodes on the medial cortex containing factors that constitute an inhibitory pathway for Wee1. This pathway is regulated by polar gradients of the DYRK kinase Pom1, and involves a direct inhibitor of Wee1, the SAD kinase Cdr1. Cdr2 also interacts with the anillin Mid1, which defines the division plane, and with additional components of the medial cortical nodes, including Blt1, which participate in the mitotic-promoting and cytokinetic functions of nodes. Here, we show that the interaction of Cdr2 with Wee1 and Mid1 requires the UBA domain of Cdr2, which is necessary for its kinase activity. In contrast, Cdr1 associates with the C-terminus of Cdr2, which is composed of basic and KA-1 lipid-binding domains. Mid1 also interacts with the C-terminus of Cdr2 and might bridge the N- and C-terminal domains, whereas Blt1 associates with the central spacer region. We propose that the association of Cdr2 effectors with different domains might constrain Cdr1 and Wee1 spatially to promote Wee1 inhibition upon Cdr2 kinase activation.

Quantitative phosphoproteomics reveals pathways for coordination of cell growth and division by the conserved fission yeast kinase pom1

Complex phosphorylation-dependent signaling networks underlie the coordination of cellular growth and division. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the Dual specificity tyrosine-(Y)-phosphorylation regulated kinase (DYRK) family protein kinase Pom1 regulates cell cycle progression through the mitotic inducer Cdr2 and controls cell polarity through unknown targets. Here, we sought to determine the phosphorylation targets of Pom1 kinase activity by SILAC-based phosphoproteomics. We defined a set of high-confidence Pom1 targets that were enriched for cytoskeletal and cell growth functions. Cdr2 was the only cell cycle target of Pom1 kinase activity that we identified in cells. Mutation of Pom1-dependent phosphorylation sites in the C terminus of Cdr2 inhibited mitotic entry but did not impair Cdr2 localization. In addition, we found that Pom1 phosphorylated multiple substrates that function in polarized cell growth, including Tea4, Mod5, Pal1, the Rho GAP Rga7, and the Arf GEF Syt22. Purified Pom1 phosphorylated these cell polarity targets in vitro, confirming that they are direct substrates of Pom1 kinase activity and likely contribute to regulation of polarized growth by Pom1. Our study demonstrates that Pom1 acts in a linear pathway to control cell cycle progression while regulating a complex network of cell growth targets.

Pom1 regulates the assembly of Cdr2-Mid1 cortical nodes for robust spatial control of cytokinesis

Pom1 regulation of Cdr2 membrane association and interaction with Mid1 prevents Cdr2 assembly into stable nodes in the cell tip region, which ensures proper positioning of cytokinetic ring precursors and accurate division plane positioning in fission yeast.

Proper division plane positioning is essential to achieve faithful DNA segregation and to control daughter cell size, positioning, or fate within tissues. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, division plane positioning is controlled positively by export of the division plane positioning factor Mid1/anillin from the nucleus and negatively by the Pom1/DYRK (dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase) gradients emanating from cell tips. Pom1 restricts to the cell middle cortical cytokinetic ring precursor nodes organized by the SAD-like kinase Cdr2 and Mid1/anillin through an unknown mechanism. In this study, we show that Pom1 modulates Cdr2 association with membranes by phosphorylation of a basic region cooperating with the lipid-binding KA-1 domain. Pom1 also inhibits Cdr2 interaction with Mid1, reducing its clustering ability, possibly by down-regulation of Cdr2 kinase activity. We propose that the dual regulation exerted by Pom1 on Cdr2 prevents Cdr2 assembly into stable nodes in the cell tip region where Pom1 concentration is high, which ensures proper positioning of cytokinetic ring precursors at the cell geometrical center and robust and accurate division plane positioning.

Cortical regulation of cell size by a sizer cdr2p

Cells can, in principle, control their size by growing to a specified size before commencing cell division. How any cell actually senses its own size remains poorly understood. The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe are rod-shaped cells that grow to ∼14 µm in length before entering mitosis. In this study, we provide evidence that these cells sense their surface area as part of this size control mechanism. We show that cells enter mitosis at a certain surface area, as opposed to a certain volume or length. A peripheral membrane protein kinase cdr2p has properties of a dose-dependent 'sizer' that controls mitotic entry. As cells grow, the local cdr2p concentration in nodes at the medial cortex accumulates as a measure of cell surface area. Our findings, which challenge a previously proposed pom1p gradient model, lead to a new model in which cells sense their size by using cdr2p to probe the surface area over the whole cell and relay this information to the medial cortex. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02040.001.

The Tea4-PP1 landmark promotes local growth by dual Cdc42 GEF recruitment and GAP exclusion

Cell polarization relies on small GTPases, such as Cdc42, which can break symmetry through self-organizing principles, and landmarks that define the axis of polarity. In fission yeast, microtubules deliver the Tea1-Tea4 complex to mark cell poles for growth, but how this complex activates Cdc42 is unknown. Here, we show that ectopic targeting of Tea4 to cell sides promotes the local activation of Cdc42 and cell growth. This activity requires that Tea4 binds the type I phosphatase (PP1) catalytic subunit Dis2 or Sds21, and ectopic targeting of either catalytic subunit is similarly instructive for growth. The Cdc42 guanine-nucleotide-exchange factor Gef1 and the GTPase-activating protein Rga4 are required for Tea4-PP1-dependent ectopic growth. Gef1 is recruited to ectopic Tea4 and Dis2 locations to promote Cdc42 activation. By contrast, Rga4 is locally excluded by Tea4, and its forced colocalization with Tea4 blocks ectopic growth, indicating that Rga4 must be present, but at sites distinct from Tea4. Thus, a Tea4-PP1 landmark promotes local Cdc42 activation and growth both through Cdc42 GEF recruitment and by creating a local trough in a Cdc42 GAP.