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Published on: August 29, 2020
Cellular plasticity enables adaptation to unforeseen cell-cycle rewiring challenges
Yair Katzir1, Elad Stolovicki, Shay Stern
1Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
Plos One
|October 3, 2012
Summary
Cell cycle genes multitask to regulate metabolism and growth, showing rapid, inherited adaptation to challenges. This reveals a general, non-specific mechanism underlying cellular plasticity and flexibility.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Systems Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- The cell cycle's robustness is attributed to its complex network structure.
- Understanding cell cycle interfaces with other cellular processes remains limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate cell cycle integration with metabolic pathways.
- Explore cellular adaptation mechanisms using genome rewiring in yeast.
Main Methods:
- Genome rewiring of the HIS3 gene under cell-cycle promoter control in yeast.
- Culturing cells in histidine-deficient media with partial HIS3 inhibition.
- Analyzing adaptation dynamics in chemostat and plate cultures.
Main Results:
- Rewired yeast cells rapidly adapted to HIS3 inhibition, stabilizing a new phenotype.
- Adapted states were heritably stable across generations.
- Adaptation involved non-specific transcriptional responses, highlighting multitasking capabilities.
Conclusions:
- The cell cycle exhibits flexible multitasking, interfacing effectively with metabolic demands.
- Fast, heritable adaptation suggests a general, non-specific mechanism for cellular plasticity.
- This mechanism enables rapid response to unforeseen environmental and metabolic challenges.
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