P. Nurse, "Universal control mechanism regulating onset of M-phase," Nature, 344, 503-8, 5 April 1990.

Paul Nurse (University of Oxford, England): "This paper reviews the area of cell cycle control, which is going through an exciting period at present (The Scientist, Dec. 10, 1990, page 15). Two approaches, a genetics one using yeast and a biochemical one using egg extracts, have converged on the same gene products as being important for regulating the onset of M-phase and cell division. In particular, a protein kinase complex composed of p34cdc2and cyclin has been shown to be responsible for initiation of M-phase, with activation of kinase activity being brought about by p34cdc2 dephosphorylation. "This paper reviews the features of this control system likely to be common to all eukaryotic cells. This analysis has led to the idea that a universal mechanism, broadly similar in all eukaryotic cells ranging from yeast to humans, regulates...

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