The power of MEN in cytokinesis.

In budding yeast, the mitotic exit network (MEN) is a signaling pathway best known for its role in driving cells out of mitosis through activation of the conserved phosphatase Cdc14. However, work over the past few years show that MEN components and Cdc14 also have a direct role in promoting cytokinesis by acting upon components of the contractile actomyosin ring and cell separation machineries. In this review, we discuss the current view on the role of MEN kinases and Cdc14 in cytokinesis and comment on the cytokinesis-related function of MEN and Cdc14 orthologs in higher eukaryotes.