Cyclin B in mouse oocytes and embryos: importance for human reproduction and aneuploidy.
Oocyte maturation and early embryo development require precise coordination between cell cycle progression and the developmental programme. Cyclin B plays a major role in this process: its accumulation and degradation is critical for driving the cell cycle through activation and inactivation of the major cell cycle kinase, CDK1. CDK1 activation is required for M-phase entry whereas its inactivation leads to exit from M-phase. The tempo of oocyte meiotic and embryonic mitotic divisions is set by the rate of cyclin B accumulation and the timing of its destruction. By controlling when cyclin B destruction is triggered and by co-ordinating this with the completion of chromosome alignment, the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) is a critical quality control system important for averting aneuploidy and for building in the flexibility required to better integrate cell cycle progression with development. In this review we focus on cyclin B metabolism in mouse oocytes and embryos and illustrate how the cell cycle-powered clock (in fact cyclin B-powered clock) controls oocyte maturation and early embryo development, thereby providing important insight into human reproduction and potential causes of Down syndrome.
Department of Genetics and Evolution, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
Zbigniew
Z
Polański
Hayden
H
Homer
Jacek Z
JZ
Kubiak
D000818:Animals; D016203:CDC2 Protein Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D019926:Cyclin B / Q000378:metabolism*; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D006801:Humans; D059566:M Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints; D051379:Mice; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D059748:Proteolysis; D014314:Trisomy
D019926:Cyclin B; D016203:CDC2 Protein Kinase