Cell cycle perturbation uncouples mitotic progression and invasive behavior in a post-mitotic cell

The acquisition of the post-mitotic state is crucial for the execution of many terminally differentiated cell behaviors during organismal development. However, the mechanisms that maintain the post-mitotic state in this context remain poorly understood. To gain insight into these mechanisms, we used the genetically and visually accessible model of C. elegans anchor cell (AC) invasion into the vulval epithelium. The AC is a terminally differentiated uterine cell that normally exits the cell cycle and enters a post-mitotic state before initiating contact between the uterus and vulva through a cell invasion event. Here, we set out to identify the set of negative cell cycle regulators that maintain the AC in this post-mitotic, invasive state. Our findings revealed a critical role for CKI-1 (p21^CIP1/p27^KIP1) in redundantly maintaining the post-mitotic state of the AC, as loss of CKI-1 in combination with other negative cell cycle regulators—including CKI-2 (p21^CIP1/p27^KIP1), LIN-35 (pRb/p107/p130), FZR-1 (Cdh1/Hct1), and LIN-23 (β-TrCP)—resulted in proliferating ACs. Remarkably, time-lapse imaging revealed that these ACs retain their ability to invade. Upon examination of a node in the gene regulatory network controlling AC invasion, we determined that proliferating, invasive ACs do so by maintaining aspects of pro-invasive gene expression. We therefore report that the requirement for a post-mitotic state for invasive cell behavior can be bypassed following direct cell cycle perturbation.