Multisite phosphorylation of CDK target proteins provides the requisite nonlinearity for cell cycle modeling using elementary reaction mechanisms.Stochastic simulations, based on Gillespie's algorithm and using realistic numbers of protein and mRNA molecules, compare favorably with single-cell measurements in budding yeast.The role of transcription–translation coupling is critical in the robust operation of protein regulatory networks in yeast cells.
Progression through the eukaryotic cell cycle is governed by the activation and inactivation of a family of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and auxiliary proteins that regulate CDK activities (Morgan, 2007). The many components of this protein regulatory network are interconnected by positive and negative feedback loops that create bistable switches and transient pulses (Tyson and Novak, 2008). The network must ensure that cell-cycle events proceed in the correct order, that cell division is balanced with respect to cell growth, and that any problems encountered (in replicating the genome or partitioning chromosomes to daughter cells) are corrected before the cell proceeds to the next phase of the cycle. The network must operate robustly in the context of unavoidable molecular fluctuations in a yeast-sized cell. With a volume of only 5×10−14 l, a yeast cell contains one copy of the gene for each component of the network, a handful of mRNA transcripts of each gene, and a few hundreds to thousands of protein molecules carrying out each gene's function. How large are the molecular fluctuations implied by these numbers, and what effects do they have on the functioning of the cell-cycle control system?
To answer these questions, we have built a new model (Figure 1) of the CDK regulatory network in budding yeast, based on the fact that the targets of CDK activity are typically phosphorylated on multiple sites. The activity of each target protein depends on how many sites are phosphorylated. The target proteins feedback on CDK activity by controlling cyclin synthesis (SBF's role) and degradation (Cdh1's role) and by releasing a CDK-counteracting phosphatase (Cdc14). Every reaction in Figure 1 can be described by a mass-action rate law, with an accompanying rate constant that must be estimated from experimental data. As the transcription and translation of mRNA molecules have major effects on fluctuating numbers of protein molecules (Pedraza and Paulsson, 2008), we have included mRNA transcripts for each protein in the model.
To create a deterministic model, the rate laws are combined, according to standard principles of chemical kinetics, into a set of 60 differential equations that govern the temporal dynamics of the control system. In the stochastic version of the model, the rate law for each reaction determines the probability per unit time that a particular reaction occurs, and we use Gillespie's stochastic simulation algorithm (Gillespie, 1976) to compute possible temporal sequences of reaction events. Accurate stochastic simulations require knowledge of the expected numbers of mRNA and protein molecules in a single yeast cell. Fortunately, these numbers are available from several sources (Ghaemmaghami et al, 2003; Zenklusen et al, 2008). Although the experimental estimates are not always in good agreement with each other, they are sufficiently reliable to populate a stochastic model with realistic numbers of molecules.
By simulating thousands of cells (as in Figure 5), we can build up representative samples for computing the mean and s.d. of any measurable cell-cycle property (e.g. interdivision time, size at division, duration of G1 phase). The excellent fit of simulated statistics to observations of cell-cycle variability is documented in the main text and Supplementary Information.
Of particular interest to us are observations of Di Talia et al (2007) of the timing of a crucial G1 event (export of Whi5 protein from the nucleus) in a population of budding yeast cells growing at a specific growth rate α=ln2/(mass-doubling time). Whi5 export is a consequence of Whi5 phosphorylation, and it occurs simultaneously with the release (activation) of SBF (see Figure 1). Using fluorescently labeled Whi5, Di Talia et al could easily measure (in individual yeast cells) the time, T1, from cell birth to the abrupt loss of Whi5 from the nucleus. Correlating T1 to the size of the cell at birth, Vbirth, they found that, for a sample of daughter cells, αT1 versus ln(Vbirth) could be fit with two straight lines of slope −0.7 and −0.3. Our simulation of this experiment (Figure 7 of the main text) compares favorably with Figure 3d and e in Di Talia et al (2007).
The major sources of noise in our model (and in protein regulatory networks in yeast cells, in general) are related to gene transcription and the small number of unique mRNA transcripts. As each mRNA molecule may instruct the synthesis of dozens of protein molecules, the coefficient of variation of molecular fluctuations at the protein level (CVP) may be dominated by fluctuations at the mRNA level, as expressed in the formula (Pedraza and Paulsson, 2008) where NM, NP denote the number of mRNA and protein molecules, respectively, and ρ=τM/τP is the ratio of half-lives of mRNA and protein molecules. For a yeast cell, typical values of NM and NP are 8 and 800, respectively (Ghaemmaghami et al, 2003; Zenklusen et al, 2008). If ρ=1, then CVP≈25%. Such large fluctuations in protein levels are inconsistent with the observed variability of size and age at division in yeast cells, as shown in the simplified cell-cycle model of Kar et al (2009) and as we have confirmed with our more realistic model. The size of these fluctuations can be reduced to a more acceptable level by assuming a shorter half-life for mRNA (say, ρ=0.1).
There must be some mechanisms whereby yeast cells lessen the protein fluctuations implied by transcription–translation coupling. Following Pedraza and Paulsson (2008), we suggest that mRNA gestation and senescence may resolve this problem. Equation (3) is based on a simple, one-stage, birth–death model of mRNA turnover. In Supplementary Appendix 1, we show that a model of mRNA processing, with 10 stages each of mRNA gestation and senescence, gives reasonable fluctuations at the protein level (CVP≈5%), even if the effective half-life of mRNA is 10 min. A one-stage model with τM=1 min gives comparable fluctuations (CVP≈5%). In the main text, we use a simple birth–death model of mRNA turnover with an ‘effective' half-life of 1 min, in order to limit the computational complexity of the full cell-cycle model.
In order for the cell's genome to be passed intact from one generation to the next, the events of the cell cycle (DNA replication, mitosis, cell division) must be executed in the correct order, despite the considerable molecular noise inherent in any protein-based regulatory system residing in the small confines of a eukaryotic cell. To assess the effects of molecular fluctuations on cell-cycle progression in budding yeast cells, we have constructed a new model of the regulation of Cln- and Clb-dependent kinases, based on multisite phosphorylation of their target proteins and on positive and negative feedback loops involving the kinases themselves. To account for the significant role of noise in the transcription and translation steps of gene expression, the model includes mRNAs as well as proteins. The model equations are simulated deterministically and stochastically to reveal the bistable switching behavior on which proper cell-cycle progression depends and to show that this behavior is robust to the level of molecular noise expected in yeast-sized cells (∼50 fL volume). The model gives a quantitatively accurate account of the variability observed in the G1-S transition in budding yeast, which is governed by an underlying sizer+timer control system.
