Recent discoveries of phosphorylation gradients and microdomains with different protein activities have revolutionized our perception of information transfer within single cells. The different spatial localization of opposing reactions in protein-modification cycles has been shown to bring about heterogeneous stationary patterns and travelling waves of protein activities. We review spatial patterns and modes of signal transfer through phosphorylation/dephosphorylation and GDP/GTP exchange cycles and cascades. We show how switches between low-activity and high-activity states in a bistable activation–deactivation cycle can initiate the propagation of travelling protein-modification waves in the cytoplasm. Typically, an activation wave is initiated at the plasma membrane and propagates through the cytoplasm until it reaches the nucleus. An increase in deactivator activity is followed by the initiation of an inactivation wave that moves in the reverse direction from the nucleus. We show that the ratio of opposing enzyme rates is a key parameter that controls both the spread of activation through cascades and travelling waves.
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October 2010
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Conference Article|
September 24 2010
Signalling over a distance: gradient patterns and phosphorylation waves within single cells
Javier Muñoz-García;
Javier Muñoz-García
1Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
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Boris N. Kholodenko
Boris N. Kholodenko
1
1Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email boris.kholodenko@ucd.ie).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
March 10 2010
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2010 Biochemical Society
2010
Biochem Soc Trans (2010) 38 (5): 1235–1241.
Article history
Received:
March 10 2010
Citation
Javier Muñoz-García, Boris N. Kholodenko; Signalling over a distance: gradient patterns and phosphorylation waves within single cells. Biochem Soc Trans 1 October 2010; 38 (5): 1235–1241. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0381235
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