Reading on the cell cycle
An information resource on the stages of the cell cycle, quoting the EU wordings on two minerals one at a time and placing each in context on its own.
Look at the fact sheetAcross many tissues of an adult body, cells keep dividing without the person ever being aware of it. Every one of these divisions runs through a fixed order of working steps, and biologists call that order the cell cycle.
Protein complexes keep watch over that order. At set points they check whether the conditions for the next step are in place, and only then do they let it go ahead. Quite a few of these proteins cannot do without metal ions, or they respond when the concentration of those ions shifts.
This page centers on two minerals, zinc first, then calcium. Following a scientific assessment by EFSA, the European Commission authorized a separate health claim for each of the two. Larimarine quotes every wording next to the mineral it belongs to.
Before a cell copies its genetic material, and once more before it hands the copies out to two daughter cells, it passes checkpoints. Enzymes called cyclin-dependent kinases work there together with changing partner proteins, the cyclins. As the amount of a given cyclin goes up or down, the set of steps that are cleared at that moment shifts as well.
These checkpoints keep the order intact. They do not resemble a switch that one nutrient flips; they are closer to a web of many players that coordinate with each other.
Some of the proteins taking part in division keep a zinc ion tightly bound. In that spot the ion behaves like a clamp, holding several stretches of a protein chain close together. Only in this shape does the protein match its binding partner.
Work on cell cultures also reports that the amount of freely available zinc inside a cell does not hold steady; it changes briefly around the point where a division finishes. What this observation means for people is still under investigation.
For this trace element, the authorized claim reads: “Zinc has a role in the process of cell division.”EU-authorized wording · Regulation (EU) No 432/2012
In a resting cell, free calcium in the cytoplasm is present at only a minute concentration; most of it sits in stores such as the endoplasmic reticulum. When channels open, the concentration climbs for a few seconds and then falls back. Spikes of this kind have been seen during mitosis, among other moments around the dissolving of the nuclear envelope and as the chromosomes pull apart.
Calcium signals are involved as well when a cell settles on a particular task after dividing. Calcium-binding proteins pick up how often the spikes occur and how long they last, and that pattern can help decide which gene program the cell turns on.
For this macromineral, the authorized claim reads: “Calcium has a role in the process of cell division and specialisation.”EU-authorized wording · Regulation (EU) No 432/2012
Each mineral with its background and the one wording that applies to that mineral alone.
A trace element the body keeps no sizable reserve of, so it has to come in regularly through food. In a great many proteins, a bound zinc ion sets the three-dimensional shape on which the protein’s work depends.
Zinc has a role in the process of cell division.EU-authorized wording · Regulation (EU) No 432/2012
A macromineral that the body stores mostly in solid, fixed form. Only a very small, mobile share is dissolved, and inside cells it serves as a messenger whose concentration can change in a matter of seconds.
Calcium has a role in the process of cell division and specialisation.EU-authorized wording · Regulation (EU) No 432/2012
The phases of mitosis in one overview table, clear descriptions of zinc-containing proteins as well as of calcium signals, plus reference values, food examples and replies to follow-up questions readers often raise.
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The texts published by Larimarine are meant as general information. They are not designed for recognizing or looking into symptoms, and they cannot stand in for a conversation with a physician or a pharmacist.
Food supplements are no substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If you take medication on a regular basis or live with a diagnosed condition, have a qualified professional look over any mineral preparation before you start taking it. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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