Mimosine arrests the cell cycle prior to the onset of DNA replication by preventing the binding of human Ctf4/And-1 to chromatin via Hif-1α activation in HeLa cells.

Though the G(1) checkpoint in mammalian cells has been known for decades, the molecular targets that prevent S-phase entry remain unknown. Mimosine is a rare plant amino acid that arrests the cell cycle in the G(1) phase before entry into S phase. Here, we show that mimosine interrupts the binding of Ctf4 to chromatin, which is essential for the initiation of DNA replication in HeLa cells, and this effect is mediated by the Hif-1 alpha-dependent increase in the level of p27. Depletion of Hif-1 alpha results in an increased binding of Ctf4 to chromatin and the entry of cells into S phase even in the presence of mimosine. These results suggest that the binding of Ctf4 to chromatin is the target of the Hif-1 alpha-dependent checkpoint pathway for cell cycle arrest in G(1) phase. Although we observed Hif-1 alpha-dependent arrest in mimosine-treated cells, it is possible that Ctf4 may act as a common target for G(1) arrest in various other checkpoint pathways.