The structure of the human cell cycle

ABSTRACT The human cell cycle is conventionally depicted as a five-phase model consisting of four proliferative phases (G1, S, G2, M) and a single state of arrest (G0). However, recent studies show that individual cells can take different paths through the cell cycle and exit into distinct arrest states, thus necessitating an update to the canonical model. We combined time lapse microscopy, highly multiplexed single cell imaging and manifold learning to determine the underlying “structure” of the human cell cycle under multiple growth and arrest conditions. By visualizing the cell cycle as a complete biological process, we identified multiple points of divergence from the proliferative cell cycle into distinct states of arrest, revealing multiple mechanisms of cell cycle exit and re-entry and the molecular routes to senescence, endoreduplication and polyploidy. These findings enable the visualization and comparison of alternative cell cycles in development and disease. One-sentence summary A systems-level view of single-cell states reveals the underlying architecture of the human cell cycle