New insight into how the temporal degradation of proteins is controlled during mitosis

Orderly progression through mitosis is driven by the degradation of specific proteins at specific times. Proteins are target for degradation by the large E3 ubiquitin ligase the Anaphase Promoting Complex (APC/C) but exactly how this ligase achieves orderly temporal degradation has not been clear. The Nilsson group in collaboration with groups in Cambridge has now provided insight into this by identifying and analyzing the degradation of substrates in live cell degradation assays. A striking correlation between affinity of the substrate for the APC/C and its timing of degradation was observed explaining how the APC/C temporally selects its substrates in a “soup” of proteins. The study is published in the EMBO Journal.