More About Cell Cycle
Cells that are not in a quiescent state exist in either 1 of the 4 known stages of cell duplication: G1, S, G2, or M. The first 3 stages (G1, S, G2) together form the so-called “Interphase” during which the cell increases in size, accumulates required nutrients, and replicates the DNA in the cell nucleus. The correctness of these complex processes is evaluated at checkpoints at the end of each of the individual stages. If all checkpoints are passed successfully, the cell cycle enters the stage of the actual cell division/mitosis[1]. During mitoses, again, 4 distinct phases can be discriminated as pro-, meta-, ana-, and telephase.
B cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus integration site 1 (BMI1) is considered a stem cell factor: a regulator protein of the Polycomb Group of multimeric protein complexes that is reported to regulate the proliferation activity of normal, stem, and progenitor cells[2].
[1] J.M. Berg, J.L. Tymoczko, L. Stryer. Biochemistry, 2002, 5th edition.New York. W. H. Freeman.
[2] A. Kreso et al. Self-renewal as a therapeutic target in human colorectal cancer. Nat Med. 2014 Jan;20(1):29-36.