scholarly journals The astrin–kinastrin/SKAP complex localizes to microtubule plus ends and facilitates chromosome alignment

2011 ◽  
Vol 192 (6) ◽  
pp. 959-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja K. Dunsch ◽  
Emily Linnane ◽  
Francis A. Barr ◽  
Ulrike Gruneberg

Astrin is a mitotic spindle–associated protein required for the correct alignment of all chromosomes at the metaphase plate. Astrin depletion delays chromosome alignment and causes the loss of normal spindle architecture and sister chromatid cohesion before anaphase onset. Here we describe an astrin complex containing kinastrin/SKAP, a novel kinetochore and mitotic spindle protein, and three minor interaction partners: dynein light chain, Plk1, and Sgo2. Kinastrin is the major astrin-interacting protein in mitotic cells, and is required for astrin targeting to microtubule plus ends proximal to the plus tip tracking protein EB1. Cells overexpressing or depleted of kinastrin mislocalize astrin and show the same mitotic defects as astrin-depleted cells. Importantly, astrin fails to localize to and track microtubule plus ends in cells depleted of or overexpressing kinastrin. These findings suggest that microtubule plus end targeting of astrin is required for normal spindle architecture and chromosome alignment, and that perturbations of this pathway result in delayed mitosis and nonphysiological separase activation.

2005 ◽  
Vol 360 (1455) ◽  
pp. 553-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.D Salmon ◽  
D Cimini ◽  
L.A Cameron ◽  
J.G DeLuca

Merotelic kinetochore attachment is a major source of aneuploidy in mammalian tissue cells in culture. Mammalian kinetochores typically have binding sites for about 20–25 kinetochore microtubules. In prometaphase, kinetochores become merotelic if they attach to microtubules from opposite poles rather than to just one pole as normally occurs. Merotelic attachments support chromosome bi-orientation and alignment near the metaphase plate and they are not detected by the mitotic spindle checkpoint. At anaphase onset, sister chromatids separate, but a chromatid with a merotelic kinetochore may not be segregated correctly, and may lag near the spindle equator because of pulling forces toward opposite poles, or move in the direction of the wrong pole. Correction mechanisms are important for preventing segregation errors. There are probably more than 100 times as many PtK1 tissue cells with merotelic kinetochores in early mitosis, and about 16 times as many entering anaphase as the 1% of cells with lagging chromosomes seen in late anaphase. The role of spindle mechanics and potential functions of the Ndc80/Nuf2 protein complex at the kinetochore/microtubule interface is discussed for two correction mechanisms: one that functions before anaphase to reduce the number of kinetochore microtubules to the wrong pole, and one that functions after anaphase onset to move merotelic kinetochores based on the ratio of kinetochore microtubules to the correct versus incorrect pole.


2018 ◽  
Vol 217 (10) ◽  
pp. 3343-3353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Carvalhal ◽  
Alexandra Tavares ◽  
Mariana B. Santos ◽  
Mihailo Mirkovic ◽  
Raquel A. Oliveira

Sister chromatid cohesion mediated by cohesin is essential for mitotic fidelity. It counteracts spindle forces to prevent premature chromatid individualization and random genome segregation. However, it is unclear what effects a partial decline of cohesin may have on chromosome organization. In this study, we provide a quantitative analysis of cohesin decay by inducing acute removal of defined amounts of cohesin from metaphase-arrested chromosomes. We demonstrate that sister chromatid cohesion is very resistant to cohesin loss as chromatid disjunction is only observed when chromosomes lose >80% of bound cohesin. Removal close to this threshold leads to chromosomes that are still cohered but display compromised chromosome alignment and unstable spindle attachments. Partial cohesin decay leads to increased duration of mitosis and susceptibility to errors in chromosome segregation. We propose that high cohesin density ensures centromeric chromatin rigidity necessary to maintain a force balance with the mitotic spindle. Partial cohesin loss may lead to chromosome segregation errors even when sister chromatid cohesion is fulfilled.


2018 ◽  
Vol 217 (3) ◽  
pp. 861-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Petsalaki ◽  
Maria Dandoulaki ◽  
George Zachos

The mitotic spindle checkpoint delays anaphase onset in the presence of unattached kinetochores, and efficient checkpoint signaling requires kinetochore localization of the Rod–ZW10–Zwilch (RZZ) complex. In the present study, we show that human Chmp4c, a protein involved in membrane remodeling, localizes to kinetochores in prometaphase but is reduced in chromosomes aligned at the metaphase plate. Chmp4c promotes stable kinetochore–microtubule attachments and is required for proper mitotic progression, faithful chromosome alignment, and segregation. Depletion of Chmp4c diminishes localization of RZZ and Mad1-Mad2 checkpoint proteins to prometaphase kinetochores and impairs mitotic arrest when microtubules are depolymerized by nocodazole. Furthermore, Chmp4c binds to ZW10 through a small C-terminal region, and constitutive Chmp4c kinetochore targeting causes a ZW10-dependent checkpoint metaphase arrest. In addition, Chmp4c spindle functions do not require endosomal sorting complex required for transport–dependent membrane remodeling. These results show that Chmp4c regulates the mitotic spindle checkpoint by promoting localization of the RZZ complex to unattached kinetochores.


2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Mulder ◽  
Nageswara Rao Pulipati ◽  
Xin Liu ◽  
Baodong Sun ◽  
Yan Zhao ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 198 (6) ◽  
pp. 1039-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja K. Dunsch ◽  
Dean Hammond ◽  
Jennifer Lloyd ◽  
Lothar Schermelleh ◽  
Ulrike Gruneberg ◽  
...  

The cytoplasmic dynein motor generates pulling forces to center and orient the mitotic spindle within the cell. During this positioning process, dynein oscillates from one pole of the cell cortex to the other but only accumulates at the pole farthest from the spindle. Here, we show that dynein light chain 1 (DYNLL1) is required for this asymmetric cortical localization of dynein and has a specific function defining spindle orientation. DYNLL1 interacted with a spindle-microtubule–associated adaptor formed by CHICA and HMMR via TQT motifs in CHICA. In cells depleted of CHICA or HMMR, the mitotic spindle failed to orient correctly in relation to the growth surface. Furthermore, CHICA TQT motif mutants localized to the mitotic spindle but failed to recruit DYNLL1 to spindle microtubules and did not correct the spindle orientation or dynein localization defects. These findings support a model where DYNLL1 and CHICA-HMMR form part of the regulatory system feeding back spindle position to dynein at the cell cortex.


2001 ◽  
Vol 276 (50) ◽  
pp. 47575-47582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather C. Gregson ◽  
John A. Schmiesing ◽  
Jong-Soo Kim ◽  
Toshiki Kobayashi ◽  
Sharleen Zhou ◽  
...  

The cohesin multiprotein complex containing SMC1, SMC3, Scc3 (SA), and Scc1 (Rad21) is required for sister chromatid cohesion in eukaryotes. Although metazoan cohesin associates with chromosomes and was shown to function in the establishment of sister chromatid cohesion during interphase, the majority of cohesin was found to be off chromosomes and reside in the cytoplasm in metaphase. Despite its dissociation from chromosomes, however, microinjection of an antibody against human SMC1 led to disorganization of the metaphase plate and cell cycle arrest, indicating that human cohesin still plays an important role in metaphase. To address the mitotic function of human cohesin, the subcellular localization of cohesin components was reexamined in human cells. Interestingly, we found that cohesin localizes to the spindle poles during mitosis and interacts with NuMA, a spindle pole-associated factor required for mitotic spindle organization. The interaction with NuMA persists during interphase. Similar to NuMA, a significant amount of cohesin was found to associate with the nuclear matrix. Furthermore, in the absence of cohesin, mitotic spindle asters failed to formin vitro. Our results raise the intriguing possibility that in addition to its well demonstrated function in sister chromatid cohesion, cohesin may be involved in spindle assembly during mitosis.


2011 ◽  
Vol 414 (3) ◽  
pp. 493-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Rapali ◽  
María Flor García-Mayoral ◽  
Mónica Martínez-Moreno ◽  
Krisztián Tárnok ◽  
Katalin Schlett ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron R. Tipton ◽  
Gary J. Gorbsky

The microtubules of the mitotic spindle mediate chromosome alignment to the metaphase plate, then sister chromatid segregation to the spindle poles in anaphase. Previous analyses of spindle microtubule kinetics utilizing fluorescence dissipation after photoactivation described two main populations, a slow and a fast turnover population, and these were ascribed to reflect kinetochore versus non-kinetochore microtubules, respectively. Here, we test this categorization by disrupting kinetochores through depletion of the Ndc80 complex. In the absence of functional kinetochores, microtubule dynamics still exhibit slow and fast turnover populations, though the proportion of each population and the timings of turnover are altered. Importantly, the data obtained following Hec1/Ndc80 depletion suggests other sub-populations, in addition to kinetochore microtubules, contribute to the slow turnover population. Further manipulation of spindle microtubules revealed a complex landscape. For example, while Aurora B kinase functions to destabilize kinetochore bound microtubules it may also stabilize certain slow turnover, non-kinetochore microtubules. Dissection of the dynamics of microtubule populations provides a greater understanding of mitotic spindle kinetics and insight into their roles in facilitating chromosome attachment, movement, and segregation during mitosis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 2371-2380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana A. Ribeiro ◽  
Jesse C. Gatlin ◽  
Yimin Dong ◽  
Ajit Joglekar ◽  
Lisa Cameron ◽  
...  

When chromosomes are aligned and bioriented at metaphase, the elastic stretch of centromeric chromatin opposes pulling forces exerted on sister kinetochores by the mitotic spindle. Here we show that condensin ATPase activity is an important regulator of centromere stiffness and function. Condensin depletion decreases the stiffness of centromeric chromatin by 50% when pulling forces are applied to kinetochores. However, condensin is dispensable for the normal level of compaction (rest length) of centromeres, which probably depends on other factors that control higher-order chromatin folding. Kinetochores also do not require condensin for their structure or motility. Loss of stiffness caused by condensin-depletion produces abnormal uncoordinated sister kinetochore movements, leads to an increase in Mad2(+) kinetochores near the metaphase plate and delays anaphase onset.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document