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. 1998 Apr 1;17(7):1952–1960. doi: 10.1093/emboj/17.7.1952

A cytoplasmic cell cycle controls the activity of a K+ channel in pre-implantation mouse embryos.

M L Day 1, M H Johnson 1, D I Cook 1
PMCID: PMC1170541  PMID: 9524118

Abstract

We previously have reported that the activity of a 240 pS K+ channel varies during the cell cycle in pre-implantation mouse embryos. In the present study, we show that: (i) the cycling of channel activity is not prevented by inhibiting protein synthesis and hence does not involve cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (cdk1)-cyclin B; and (ii) the cycling of channel activity continues in anucleate zygote fragments with a time course similar to that observed in nucleate fragments. We further demonstrate that: (i) persistent activation of the K+ channel in one-cell embryos arrested in metaphase requires the maintenance of an active cdk1-cyclin B complex; and (ii) both DNA synthesis inhibition with aphidicolin and DNA damage produced by mitomycin C prevent the down-regulation of the channel at the start of S phase by a mechanism that requires tyrosine kinase activation. Thus, the 240 pS K+ channel in these cells is controlled by a previously unsuspected cytoplasmic clock that functions independently of the well-known clock controlling the chromosomal cell cycle, but can interact with it.

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Selected References

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