Regulation of protein translation during mitosis

Entry into and exit from mitosis is driven by precisely-timed changes in protein abundance, and involves transcriptional regulation and protein degradation. However, the role of translational regulation in modulating cellular protein content during mitosis remains poorly understood. Here, using ribosome profiling, we show that translational, rather than transcriptional regulation is the dominant mechanism for modulating protein synthesis at mitotic entry. The vast majority of regulated mRNAs are translationally repressed, which contrasts previous findings of selective mRNA translational activation at mitotic entry. One of the most pronounced translationally repressed genes in mitosis is Emi1, an inhibitor of the anaphase promoting complex (APC), which is degraded during mitosis. We show that Emi1 degradation is insufficient for full APC activation and that simultaneous translational repression is required. These results provide a genome-wide view of protein translation during mitosis and suggest that translational repression may be used to ensure complete protein inactivation Ribosome profiling and mRNA-seq from 3 time points in the cell cycle