This study, published recently in PLOS Genetics, shows that in the particular case of meiotic cells such as spermatocytes, the signalling route of the ATM protein also participates in the control system
of the cell cycle progression in response to DNA damage, something which until now was unknown.
«It completely turns upside - down what was thought to be a fundamental
aspect of cell cycle progression in all cancer cells driven by one of the most common genetic pathways mutated in cancer, namely the p16 - cyclin D pathway.»
There are as many as 14, but the scientists found that cyclin D adds just a single phosphate at one, and only one, of the 14 locations during the early G1
phase of cell cycle progression, essentially make 14 different versions of the Rb tumor suppressor.
Lee Y, Dominy JE, Choi YJ, Jurczak M, Tolliday N, Camporez JP, Chim H, Lim JH, Ruan HB, Yang X, Vazquez F, Sicinski P, Shulman GI, Puigserver P. Cyclin D1 - Cdk4 controls glucose metabolism
independently of cell cycle progression.
Labeling, detection and quantification of cells in the S - phase (DNA synthesis)
of cell cycle progression are crucial in characterizing the cellular responses to various treatments and genetic modifications.