| | |  | | | | Record from Web of Science® | | | | | | |
| A positive-feedback-based bistable 'memory module' that governs a cell fate decision |
|
|
| Author(s): Xiong W, Ferrell JE |
| Source: NATURE Volume: 426 Issue: 6965 Pages: 460-465 Published: NOV 27 2003 |
| Times Cited: 174 References: 30 |
| Abstract: The maturation of Xenopus oocytes can be thought of as a process of cell fate induction, with the immature oocyte representing the default fate and the mature oocyte representing the induced fate(1,2). Crucial mediators of Xenopus oocyte maturation, including the p42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the cell-division cycle protein kinase Cdc2, are known to be organized into positive feedback loops(3). In principle, such positive feedback loops could produce an actively maintained 'memory' of a transient inductive stimulus and could explain the irreversibility of maturation(3-6). Here we show that the p42 MAPK and Cdc2 system normally generates an irreversible biochemical response from a transient stimulus, but the response becomes transient when positive feedback is blocked. Our results explain how a group of intrinsically reversible signal transducers can generate an irreversible response at a systems level, and show how a cell fate can be maintained by a self-sustaining pattern of protein kinase activation. |
| Document Type: Article |
| Language: English |
| Reprint Address: Ferrell, JE (reprint author), Stanford Univ, Dept Mol Pharmacol, Sch Med, Stanford, CA 94305 USA |
Addresses:
1. Stanford Univ, Dept Mol Pharmacol, Sch Med, Stanford, CA 94305 USA |
| Publisher: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, MACMILLAN BUILDING, 4 CRINAN ST, LONDON N1 9XW, ENGLAND |
| Subject Category: Multidisciplinary Sciences |
| IDS Number: 747JE |
| ISSN: 0028-0836 |
| DOI: 10.1038/nature02089 |
|
| | | | | | | | | Record from Web of Science® | | | | | | | | | |