Mechanisms regulating mitotic entry in space and time

Commitment to mitosis must be tightly coordinated with DNA replication to preserve genome integrity. Consistently, unscheduled mitosis may contribute to genetic instability. Entry into mitosis is controlled by evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinases (Aurora A, Polo-like kinase, Plk1) as well as counteracting phosphatases (PPases). How these kinase activities are regulated in space and time, and how they work in concert to trigger mitosis at the right time remain ill defined.