title: Regulation of wee1(+) expression during meiosis in fission yeast.
abstract: In eukaryotes, the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk1p (Cdc2p) plays a central role in entry into and progression through nuclear division during mitosis and meiosis. Cdk1p is activated during meiotic nuclear divisions by dephosphorylation of its tyrosine-15 residue. The phosphorylation status of this residue is largely determined by the Wee1p kinase and the Cdc25p phosphatase. In fission yeast, the forkhead-type transcription factor Mei4p is essential for entry into the first meiotic nuclear division. We recently identified cdc25(+) as an essential target of Mei4p in the control of entry into meiosis I. Here, we show that wee1(+) is another important target of Mei4p in the control of entry into meiosis I. Mei4p bound to the upstream region of wee1(+) in vivo and in vitro and inhibited expression of wee1(+), whereas Mei4p positively regulated expression of the adjacent pseudogene. Overexpression of Mei4p inhibited expression of wee1(+) and induced that of the pseudogene. Conversely, deletion of Mei4p did not decrease expression of wee1(+) but inhibited that of the pseudogene. In addition, deletion of Mei4p-binding regions delayed repression of wee1(+) expression as well as induction of expression of the pseudogene. These results suggest that repression of wee1(+) expression is primarily owing to Mei4p-mediated transcriptional interference.
authors.affiliation: a Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute ; Division of Molecular Oncology ; Nagoya , Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murakami-Tonami
authors.forename: Hokuto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aiba
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murakami
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics*; D008938:Mitosis; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011544:Pseudogenes; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics*; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; C489539:mei4 protein, S pombe; C068689:wee1 protein, S pombe; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
keywords: Cdk1; Cdk1, cyclin-dependent kinase 1; MI, meiosis 1; Tyr15, tyrosine-15; Mei4; meiosis 1; pseudogene; transcription; wee1