Probing The Mechanisms Underlying Kinetochore Behavior In Vertebate Cells Using Combinations of Advanced Light and 3-D Electron Microscopy

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (S2) ◽  
pp. 217-218
Author(s):  
B. F. McEwen ◽  
A.B. Heagle ◽  
C.L. Rieder
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Attachment Site ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Nuclear Envelope Breakdown ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Primary Constriction ◽  
Sister Kinetochore ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Chromosome Motion

For daughter cells to receive equal copies of the genome during mitosis, the replicated chromosomes must attach to and move bi-directionally on the mitotic spindle. A chromosome becomes attached to the spindle via a pair specialized structures, known as kinetochores, that are positioned on opposite sides of its primary constriction (one on each of the two chromatids). In addition to being the spindle attachment site, kinetochores are also involved in producing and/or transmitting the forces for chromosome motion. In vertebrates the kinetochore closest to a spindle pole at the time of nuclear envelope breakdown usually is the first to attach to the spindle. As a result of this attachment the now “monooriented” chromosome moves toward the closest pole where its only attached kinetochore initiates oscillatory motions toward and away from that pole until the unattached sister kinetochore acquires microtubules (Mts) from the opposite spindle pole.

scholarly journals A comparison of the distribution of actin and tubulin in the mammalian mitotic spindle as seen by indirect immunofluorescence.

1977 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 552-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Z Cande ◽  
E Lazarides ◽  
J R McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Immunofluorescence ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Metaphase Plate ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Chromosome Movement ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Small Ball ◽  
Nuclear Envelope Breakdown ◽  
Daughter Cells

Rabbit antibodies against actin and tubulin were used in an indirect immunofluorescence study of the structure of the mitotic spindle of PtK1 cells after lysis under conditions that preserve anaphase chromosome movement. During early prophase there is no antiactin staining associated with the mitotic centers, but by late prophase, as the spindle is beginning to form, a small ball of actin antigenicity is found beside the nucleus; After nuclear envelope breakdown, the actiactin stains the region around each mitotic center, and becomes organized into fibers that run between the chromosomes and the poles. Colchicine blocks this organization, but does not disrupt the staining at the poles. At metaphase the antiactin reveals a halo of ill-defined radius around each spindle pole and fibers that run from the poles to the metaphase plate. Antitubulin shows astral rays, fibers running from chromosomes to poles, and some fibers that run across the metaphase plate. At anaphase, there is a shortening of the antiactin-stained fibers, leaving a zone which is essentially free of actin-staining fluorescence between the separating chromosomes. Antitubulin stains the region between chromosomes and poles, but also reveals substantial fibers running through the zone between separating chromosomes. Cells fixed during cytokinesis show actin in the region of the cleavage furrow, while antitubulin reveals the fibrous spindle remnant that runs between daughter cells. These results suggest that actin is a component of the mammalian mitotic spindle, that the distribution of actin differs from that of tubulin and that the distributions of these two fibrous proteins change in different ways during anaphase.

scholarly journals Chromosome misalignment is associated with PLK1 activity at cenexin-positive mitotic centrosomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (13) ◽  
pp. 1598-1609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica G. Colicino ◽  
Katrina Stevens ◽  
Erin Curtis ◽  
Lindsay Rathbun ◽  
Michael Bates ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Binding Partner ◽  
Mitotic Kinase ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Chromosome Distribution ◽  
Spindle Poles ◽  
Mother Centriole

The mitotic kinase, polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), facilitates the assembly of the two mitotic spindle poles, which are required for the formation of the microtubule-based spindle that ensures appropriate chromosome distribution into the two forming daughter cells. Spindle poles are asymmetric in composition. One spindle pole contains the oldest mitotic centriole, the mother centriole, where the majority of cenexin, the mother centriole appendage protein and PLK1 binding partner, resides. We hypothesized that PLK1 activity is greater at the cenexin-positive older spindle pole. Our studies found that PLK1 asymmetrically localizes between spindle poles under conditions of chromosome misalignment, and chromosomes tend to misalign toward the oldest spindle pole in a cenexin- and PLK1-dependent manner. During chromosome misalignment, PLK1 activity is increased specifically at the oldest spindle pole, and this increase in activity is lost in cenexin-depleted cells. We propose a model where PLK1 activity elevates in response to misaligned chromosomes at the oldest spindle pole during metaphase.

scholarly journals Importin-β negatively regulates multiple aspects of mitosis including RANGAP1 recruitment to kinetochores

2012 ◽  
Vol 196 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele Roscioli ◽  
Laura Di Francesco ◽  
Alessio Bolognesi ◽  
Maria Giubettini ◽  
Serena Orlando ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Protein Import ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Nuclear Pore ◽  
Microtubule Dynamic ◽  
Nuclear Envelope Breakdown ◽  
Microtubule Attachment ◽  
Importin Α ◽  
Mitotic Spindle Pole

Importin-β is the main vector for interphase nuclear protein import and plays roles after nuclear envelope breakdown. Here we show that importin-β regulates multiple aspects of mitosis via distinct domains that interact with different classes of proteins in human cells. The C-terminal region (which binds importin-α) inhibits mitotic spindle pole formation. The central region (harboring nucleoporin-binding sites) regulates microtubule dynamic functions and interaction with kinetochores. Importin-β interacts through this region with NUP358/RANBP2, which in turn binds SUMO-conjugated RANGAP1 in nuclear pores. We show that this interaction continues after nuclear pore disassembly. Overexpression of importin-β, or of the nucleoporin-binding region, inhibited RANGAP1 recruitment to mitotic kinetochores, an event that is known to require microtubule attachment and the exportin CRM1. Co-expressing either importin-β–interacting RANBP2 fragments, or CRM1, restored RANGAP1 to kinetochores and rescued importin-β–dependent mitotic dynamic defects. These results reveal previously unrecognized importin-β functions at kinetochores exerted via RANBP2 and opposed by CRM1.

A reevaluation of the mitotic spindle pole body cycle in Tilletia caries based on freeze-substitution techniques

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (10) ◽  
pp. 1412-1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry O'donnell
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Metaphase Chromosomes ◽  
Tilletia Caries ◽  
Pole Body ◽  
The One ◽  
Mitotic Spindle Pole

Mitosis in the wheat pathogen Tilletia caries (Basidiomycota, Tilletiales) was investigated by electron microscopy of serially sectioned, fast-frozen, freeze-substituted mitotic cells called ballistospores. A duplicated spindle pole body consisting of two identical, three-layered globular elements connected by a middle piece was attached to the extranuclear face of each nucleus at interphase. During mitosis, astral and spindle microtubules radiated from the globular elements that form the poles of an intranuclear spindle. At metaphase, chromosomes were interspersed with the nonkinetochore microtubules, and they were spread along the central two-thirds of the spindle. Each chromatid was attached to a spindle pole by a single, continuous, kinetochore microtubule. Postmitotic replication of the spindle pole body occurred during late telophase to interphase. Results from this study are presented in the form of a model of the mitotic spindle pole body cycle in Tilletia, and this model is compared with the one previously reported for Tilletia and other basidiomycetes. Key words: electron microscopy, freeze substitution, mitosis, spindle pole body, Tilletia.

scholarly journals The absence of centrioles from spindle poles of rat kangaroo (PtK2) cells undergoing meiotic-like reduction division in vitro.

1977 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Brenner ◽  
A Branch ◽  
S Meredith ◽  
M W Berns
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Reduction Division ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Spindle Poles ◽  
Spindle Apparatus ◽  
Time Lapse Photography

Light and electron microscopy were used to study somatic cell reduction division occurring spontaneously in tetraploid populations of rat kangaroo Potorous tridactylis (PtK2) cells in vitro. Light microscopy coupled with time-lapse photography documented the pattern of reduction division which includes an anaphase-like movement of double chromatid chromosomes to opposite spindle poles followed by the organization of two separate metaphase plates and synchronous anaphase division to form four poles and four daughter nuclei. The resulting daughter cells were isolated and cloned, showing their viability, and karyotyped to determine their ploidy. Ultrastructural analysis of cells undergoing reduction consistently revealed two duplexes of centrioles (one at each of two spindle poles) and two spindle poles in each cell that lacked centrioles but with microtubules terminating in a pericentriolar-like cloud of material. These results suggest that the centriole is not essential for spindle pole formation and division and implicate the could region as a necessary component of the spindle apparatus.

scholarly journals Helical Twist and Rotational Forces in the Mitotic Spindle

Biomolecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iva M. Tolić ◽  
Maja Novak ◽  
Nenad Pavin
Keyword(s):  
Cell Division ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Experimental Techniques ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Helical Twist ◽  
Complex Shapes ◽  
Sister Kinetochore ◽  
Tension And Compression

The mitotic spindle segregates chromosomes into two daughter cells during cell division. This process relies on the precise regulation of forces acting on chromosomes as the cell progresses through mitosis. The forces in the spindle are difficult to directly measure using the available experimental techniques. Here, we review the ideas and recent advances of how forces can be determined from the spindle shape. By using these approaches, it has been shown that tension and compression coexist along a single kinetochore fiber, which are balanced by a bridging fiber between sister kinetochore fibers. An extension of this approach to three dimensions revealed that microtubule bundles have rich shapes, and extend not simply like meridians on the Earth’s surface but, rather, twisted in a helical manner. Such complex shapes are due to rotational forces, which, in addition to linear forces, act in the spindle and may be generated by motor proteins such as kinesin-5. These findings open new questions for future studies, to understand the mechanisms of rotational forces and reveal their biological roles in cells.

The transition of cells of the fission yeast beta-tubulin mutant nda3-311 as seen by freeze-substitution electron microscopy. Requirement of functional tubulin for spindle pole body duplication

1990 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-282
Author(s):  
T. Kanbe ◽  
Y. Hiraoka ◽  
K. Tanaka ◽  
M. Yanagida
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Nuclear Membrane ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Spindle Pole Body ◽  
Freeze Substitution ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Permissive Temperature ◽  
Beta Tubulin ◽  
Pole Body

A previous fluorescence light-microscopic study showed that the fission yeast cold-sensitive beta-tubulin mutant nda3-311 was arrested with rod-like condensed chromosomes in a mitotic state at the restrictive temperature. Upon transfer to the permissive temperature, a spindle was formed and the nucleus was divided. In the present study, we employed freeze-substitution electron microscopy to examine the ultrastructure of arrested and released nda3-311 cells. In arrested cells, a single, displaced nucleus was seen with a single spindle pole body. Therefore, spindle pole body duplication seemed to require functional beta-tubulin. The nuclear membrane was highly deformed with a leaf-like profile in cross-section, possibly due to an interaction with the rod-like, condensed chromosomes. Upon transfer to the permissive temperature, the spindle pole duplicated and the daughter spindle pole bodies rapidly migrated to the opposite ends of the nucleus, accompanied by the formation of the mitotic spindle. Elongation of the nuclear envelope occurred with concomitant spindle extension, as in a wild-type mitosis. The deformed nuclear membrane became smooth and described a convex curve. The numerous vacuoles that are seen in the arrested cells decreased in number and increased in size. Septation was completed, leaving the two divided nuclei in one half of the cell. Hexagonally arranged microtubules, apparently forming the mitotic spindle, were observed in a cross-section of a cell after return to the permissive conditions.

scholarly journals Anaphase onset in vertebrate somatic cells is controlled by a checkpoint that monitors sister kinetochore attachment to the spindle.

1994 ◽  
Vol 127 (5) ◽  
pp. 1301-1310 ◽  
Author(s):  
C L Rieder ◽  
A Schultz ◽  
R Cole ◽  
G Sluder
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Envelope ◽  
Somatic Cells ◽  
Checkpoint Control ◽  
Average Interval ◽  
Nuclear Envelope Breakdown ◽  
Anaphase Onset ◽  
Sister Kinetochore ◽  
Chromosome Motion

To test the popular but unproven assumption that the metaphase-anaphase transition in vertebrate somatic cells is subject to a checkpoint that monitors chromosome (i.e., kinetochore) attachment to the spindle, we filmed mitosis in 126 PtK1 cells. We found that the time from nuclear envelope breakdown to anaphase onset is linearly related (r2 = 0.85) to the duration the cell has unattached kinetochores, and that even a single unattached kinetochore delays anaphase onset. We also found that anaphase is initiated at a relatively constant 23-min average interval after the last kinetochore attaches, regardless of how long the cell possessed unattached kinetochores. From these results we conclude that vertebrate somatic cells possess a metaphase-anaphase checkpoint control that monitors sister kinetochore attachment to the spindle. We also found that some cells treated with 0.3-0.75 nM Taxol, after the last kinetochore attached to the spindle, entered anaphase and completed normal poleward chromosome motion (anaphase A) up to 3 h after the treatment--well beyond the 9-48-min range exhibited by untreated cells. The fact that spindle bipolarity and the metaphase alignment of kinetochores are maintained in these cells, and that the chromosomes move poleward during anaphase, suggests that the checkpoint monitors more than just the attachment of microtubules at sister kinetochores or the metaphase alignment of chromosomes. Our data are most consistent with the hypothesis that the checkpoint monitors an increase in tension between kinetochores and their associated microtubules as biorientation occurs.

Scleroderma crest autoantibodies as fluorescent and Immuno-Electron Microscopic probes: Keys to a chromosomal black box

1991 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 12-13
Author(s):  
B. R. Brinkley ◽  
R. P. Zinkowski
Keyword(s):  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Attachment Site ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Chromosome Movement ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Primary Constriction ◽  
Plant Chromosomes ◽  
Spindle Poles ◽  
Spindle Microtubules ◽  
Mitosis And Meiosis

The mammalian kinetochore is a highly differentiated structure found at the centromere (primary constriction) of chromosomes that serves as an attachment site for spindle microtubules. Ultrastructurally, the kinetochore typically appears as a tri-layered plate or disc situated at the sides of the centromere (Fig.1). Recent evidence demonstrates that kinetochores have the ability to capture and stabilize microtubules that grow from the spindle poles. Moreover, the motor(s) for chromosome movement appear to be located in or near the kinetochore which actively participates in the generation of forces necessary for chromosome movement in mitosis and meiosis. To understand how the precise ballet-like movements of chromosomes on the mitotic spindle occur, attention has focused on the “black box” of the chromosome; the centromere-kinetochore complex.The fortuitous discovery that serum from individuals with the CREST variant of scleroderma contain autoantibodies that bind to components of the centromere-kinetochore complex has led to major advancements in the understanding of this chromosomal black box. Indirect immunofluorescence has demonstrated the presence of paired fluorescent structures (Fig.2) at the centromeres of both mammalian and plant chromosomes.

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