Inhibition of eukaryotic DNA replication by geminin binding to Cdt1

Abstract

In all eukaryotic organisms, inappropriate firing of replication origins during the G₂ phase of the cell cycle is suppressed by cyclin-dependent kinases. Multicellular eukaryotes contain a second putative inhibitor of re-replication called geminin. Geminin is believed to block binding of the Mini-Chromosome Maintenance (MCM) complex to origins of replication, but the mechanism of this inhibition is unclear. Here we show that geminin interacts tightly with Cdt1, a recently identified replication initiation factor necessary for MCM loading. The inhibition of DNA replication by geminin that is observed in cell-free DNA replication extracts is reversed by the addition of excess Cdt1. In the normal cell cycle, Cdt1 is present only in G₁ and S, whereas geminin is present in S and G₂ phases of the cell cycle. Together, these results suggest that geminin inhibits inappropriate origin firing by targeting Cdt1.