Visualizing the metazoan proliferation-quiescence decision in vivo.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33350383.
- Also identified by DOI 10.7554/eLife.63265 and PMC identifier 7880687.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Cell proliferation and quiescence are intimately coordinated during metazoan development. Here, we adapt a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) sensor to uncouple these key events of the cell cycle in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> and zebrafish through live-cell imaging. The CDK sensor consists of a fluorescently tagged CDK substrate that steadily translocates from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in response to increasing CDK activity and consequent sensor phosphorylation. We show that the CDK sensor can distinguish cycling cells in G1 from quiescent cells in G0, revealing a possible commitment point and a cryptic stochasticity in an otherwise invariant <i>C. elegans</i> cell lineage. Finally, we derive a predictive model of future proliferation behavior in <i>C. elegans</i> based on a snapshot of CDK activity in newly born cells. Thus, we introduce a live-cell imaging tool to facilitate in vivo studies of cell-cycle control in a wide-range of developmental contexts.
Medical subject headings
- Biosensing Techniques
- Caenorhabditis elegans