cell cycle

noun

1. the cycle of growth and asexual reproduction of a cell, consisting of interphase followed in actively dividing cells by prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.

cell cycle

noun

1. the growth cycle of eukaryotic cells. It is divided into five stages, known as G 0 , in which the cell is quiescent, G 1 and G 2 , in which it increases in size, S, in which it duplicates its DNA, and M, in which it undergoes mitosis and divides

Word History and Origins

Origin of cell cycle¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

"During mitosis, it has been thought that almost all gene transcription is shut off. And before our paper, it was also thought that all 3D structure related to gene regulation was lost and replaced by compaction. It's a complete reset every cell cycle," Hansen says.

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This finding answers a long-standing question in cell biology -- how do cells integrate signals from two oscillatory processes -- the cell cycle and the circadian rhythm -- which operate a different frequencies?

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Lead author Dr Chao Ye explained: "We found that the circadian clock dictates how strong these pulses are over time. Using this strategy, cells can encode information about two oscillatory signals in the same output: information about the cell cycle in the pulsing frequency, and about the 24-hour clock in the pulsing strength. This is the first time we've observed a circadian clock using pulse amplitude modulation, a concept typically associated with communication technology, to control biological functions."

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"Varying the frequency of either the cell cycle, through ambient light, or the circadian clock, through genetic mutations, validated the underlying principle. It is striking to see examples in nature of what we sometimes think of as 'our' engineering rules," said co-corresponding author Dr Martins.

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With so much at stake, nature keeps it tightly controlled in a process called the cell cycle that scientists thought they thoroughly understood.

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