Securin is a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

involved in control of the metaphase-anaphase transition and anaphase onset. Following bi-orientation of

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

pairs and inactivation of the spindle checkpoint system, the underlying regulatory system, which includes securin, produces an abrupt stimulus that induces highly synchronous chromosome separation in

anaphase Anaphase () is the stage of mitosis after the process of metaphase, when replicated chromosomes are split and the newly-copied chromosomes (daughter chromatids) are moved to opposite poles of the cell. Chromosomes also reach their overall max ...

Securin and Separase

Securin is initially present in the cytoplasm and binds to separase, a

protease A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the form ...

that degrades the cohesin rings that link the two sister chromatids. Separase is vital for onset of anaphase. This securin-separase complex is maintained when securin is phosphorylated by

Cdk1 Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 also known as CDK1 or cell division cycle protein 2 homolog is a highly conserved protein that functions as a serine/threonine protein kinase, and is a key player in cell cycle regulation. It has been highly studied in t ...

, inhibiting ubiquitination. When bound to securin, separase is not functional. In addition, both securin and separase are well-conserved proteins (Figure 1). Note that separase cannot function without initially forming the securin-separase complex. This is because securin helps properly fold separase into the functional conformation. However, yeast does not appear to require securin to form functional separase as anaphase occurs in yeast with a securin deletion mutation.

Role of Securin in the onset of Anaphase

Basic mechanism

Securin has 5 known phosphorylation sites that are targets of Cdk1; 2 sites at the N-terminal in the Ken-Box and D-box region are known to affect APC recognition and ubiquitination (Figure 2).