The replication checkpoint (or 'S-M checkpoint') control prevents progression into mitosis when DNA replication is incomplete. Caffeine has been known for some time to have the capacity to override the S-M checkpoint in animal cells. We show here that caffeine also disrupts the S-M checkpoint in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. By contrast, no comparable effects of caffeine on the S...

Two alleles of the Drosophila melanogaster Rfc4 (DmRfc4) gene, which encodes subunit 4 of the replication factor C (RFC) complex, cause striking defects in mitotic chromosome cohesion and condensation. These mutations produce larval phenotypes consistent with a role in DNA replication but also result in mitotic chromosomal defects appearing either as premature chromosome condensation-like or pr...

Checkpoint pathways regulate genomic integrity in part by blocking anaphase until all chromosomes have been completely replicated, repaired, and correctly aligned on the spindle. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, DNA damage and mono-oriented or unattached kinetochores trigger checkpoint pathways that bifurcate to regulate both the metaphase to anaphase transition and mitotic exit. The sensor-associa...

objective: to evaluate the effect of cytoplasm transfer from mature oocytes to germinal vesicle(gv)s on promoting the maturation of cytoplasm of gv at the mrna level. materials and methods: sixty six in vitro fertilization (ivf) operations between june 2012 and november 2013 were included in this study. totally 120 gvs were obtained. normal gvs were categorized into 3 groups (n = 40) randomly: ...

The histone H3-H4 chaperone Asf1 is involved in chromatin assembly (or disassembly), histone exchange, regulation of transcription, and chromatin silencing in several organisms. To investigate the essential functions of Asf1 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, asf1-ts mutants were constructed by random mutagenesis using PCR. One mutant (asf1-33(ts)) was mated with mutants in 77 different kinase genes...

The G(2) DNA damage checkpoint is activated by genotoxic agents and is particularly important for cancer therapies. Overriding the checkpoint can trigger precocious entry into mitosis, causing cells to undergo mitotic catastrophe. But some checkpoint-abrogated cells can remain viable and progress into G(1) phase, which may contribute to further genome instability. Our previous studies reveal th...

not only cancer cells but also normal cells. Because these drugs are not specifically selective for cancer cells, patients suffer from adverse side effects due to the loss of healthy cells. Therefore, it is important to reduce such side effects caused by anti-cancer drugs. DNA damage induces signal transduction pathways called checkpoints, which delay cell cycle progression and permit repair of...

DNA damage is a relatively common event in the life of a cell and may lead to mutation, cancer, and cellular or organismic death. Damage to DNA induces several cellular responses that enable the cell either to eliminate or cope with the damage or to activate a programmed cell death process, presumably to eliminate cells with potentially catastrophic mutations. These DNA damage response reaction...

Rad9 functions in the DNA-damage checkpoint pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In whole-cell extracts, Rad9 is found in large, soluble complexes, which have functions in amplifying the checkpoint signal. The two main soluble forms of Rad9 complexes that are found in cells exposed to DNA-damaging treatments were purified to homogeneity. Both of these Rad9 complexes contain the Ssa1 and/or Ssa2...

In mammalian oocytes DNA damage can cause chromosomal abnormalities that potentially lead to infertility and developmental disorders. However, there is little known about the response of oocytes to DNA damage. Here we find that oocytes with DNA damage arrest at metaphase of the first meiosis (MI). The MI arrest is induced by the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) because inhibiting the SAC overr...