scholarly journals Autoinhibition of Cnn binding to γ-TuRCs prevents ectopic microtubule nucleation and cell division defects

2021 ◽  
Vol 220 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne A. Tovey ◽  
Chisato Tsuji ◽  
Alice Egerton ◽  
Fred Bernard ◽  
Antoine Guichet ◽  
...  

γ-Tubulin ring complexes (γ-TuRCs) nucleate microtubules. They are recruited to centrosomes in dividing cells via binding to N-terminal CM1 domains within γ-TuRC–tethering proteins, including Drosophila Centrosomin (Cnn). Binding promotes microtubule nucleation and is restricted to centrosomes in dividing cells, but the mechanism regulating binding remains unknown. Here, we identify an extreme N-terminal CM1 autoinhibition (CAI) domain found specifically within the centrosomal isoform of Cnn (Cnn-C) that inhibits γ-TuRC binding. Robust binding occurs after removal of the CAI domain or with the addition of phosphomimetic mutations, suggesting that phosphorylation helps relieve inhibition. We show that regulation of Cnn binding to γ-TuRCs is isoform specific and that misregulation of binding can result in ectopic cytosolic microtubules and major defects during cell division. We also find that human CDK5RAP2 is autoinhibited from binding γ-TuRCs, suggesting conservation across species. Overall, our results shed light on how and why CM1 domain binding to γ-TuRCs is regulated.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne A. Tovey ◽  
Chisato Tsuji ◽  
Alice Egerton ◽  
Fred Bernard ◽  
Antoine Guichet ◽  
...  

Abstractγ-tubulin-ring-complexes (γ-TuRCs) nucleate microtubules. They are recruited to centrosomes in dividing cells via binding to N-terminal CM1 domains within γ-TuRC-tethering proteins, including Drosophila Cnn. Binding promotes microtubule nucleation and is restricted to centrosomes, but the mechanism regulating binding remains unknown. Here we identify an extreme N-terminal “CM1 auto-inhibition” (CAI) domain within the centrosomal isoform of Cnn (Cnn-C) that inhibits γ-TuRC binding. Cnn-C is phosphorylated at centrosomes and we find that phospho-mimicking sites within the CAI domain helps relieve auto-inhibition. In contrast, the testes-specific mitochondrial Cnn-T isoform lacks the CAI domain and can bind strongly to cytosolic γ-TuRCs. Ubiquitously expressing a version of Cnn-C lacking the CAI domain leads to major cell division defects, which appears to be due to ectopic cytosolic microtubule nucleation. We propose that the CAI domain folds back to sterically inhibit the CM1 domain, and that this auto-inhibition is relieved by phosphorylation that occurs specifically at centrosomes.


1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 2037-2049 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B. Raich ◽  
Adrienne N. Moran ◽  
Joel H. Rothman ◽  
Jeff Hardin

Members of the MKLP1 subfamily of kinesin motor proteins localize to the equatorial region of the spindle midzone and are capable of bundling antiparallel microtubules in vitro. Despite these intriguing characteristics, it is unclear what role these kinesins play in dividing cells, particularly within the context of a developing embryo. Here, we report the identification of a null allele ofzen-4, an MKLP1 homologue in the nematodeCaenorhabditis elegans, and demonstrate that ZEN-4 is essential for cytokinesis. Embryos deprived of ZEN-4 form multinucleate single-celled embryos as they continue to cycle through mitosis but fail to complete cell division. Initiation of the cytokinetic furrow occurs at the normal time and place, but furrow propagation halts prematurely. Time-lapse recordings and microtubule staining reveal that the cytokinesis defect is preceded by the dissociation of the midzone microtubules. We show that ZEN-4 protein localizes to the spindle midzone during anaphase and persists at the midbody region throughout cytokinesis. We propose that ZEN-4 directly cross-links the midzone microtubules and suggest that these microtubules are required for the completion of cytokinesis.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 1267-1276
Author(s):  
Katayoun Afshar ◽  
Pierre Gönczy ◽  
Stephen DiNardo ◽  
Steven A Wasserman

Abstract A number of fundamental processes comprise the cell division cycle, including spindle formation, chromosome segregation, and cytokinesis. Our current understanding of these processes has benefited from the isolation and analysis of mutants, with the meiotic divisions in the male germline of Drosophila being particularly well suited to the identification of the required genes. We show here that the fumble (fbl) gene is required for cell division in Drosophila. We find that dividing cells in fbl-deficient testes exhibit abnormalities in bipolar spindle organization, chromosome segregation, and contractile ring formation. Cytological analysis of larval neuroblasts from null mutants reveals a reduced mitotic index and the presence of polyploid cells. Molecular analysis demonstrates that fbl encodes three protein isoforms, all of which contain a domain with high similarity to the pantothenate kinases of A. nidulans and mouse. The largest Fumble isoform is dispersed in the cytoplasm during interphase, concentrates around the spindle at metaphase, and localizes to the spindle midbody at telophase. During early embryonic development, the protein localizes to areas of membrane deposition and/or rearrangement, such as the metaphase and cellularization furrows. Given the role of pantothenate kinase in production of Coenzyme A and in phospholipid biosynthesis, this pattern of localization is suggestive of a role for fbl in membrane synthesis. We propose that abnormalities in synthesis and redistribution of membranous structures during the cell division cycle underlie the cell division defects in fbl mutant cells.


1983 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-156
Author(s):  
L.A. Hufnagel

A freeze-fracture analysis of early neogenesis of somatic and oral cilia of Tetrahymena was conducted using exponentially grown cultures and also cells induced to undergo oral reorganization. In this report, presumptive ciliary domains (PCDs), sites of future outgrowth of somatic cilia, are identified and their membrane structure is described in detail. The fairy ring, an array of membrane particles that occurs within the PCD and appears to be a precursor of the ciliary necklace, is described. A sequence of early stages in the formation of the ciliary necklace of somatic cilia is deduced from topographical information and membrane particle arrangements and numbers. Evidence is presented that basal bodies are seated at the cell surface prior to initiation of necklace assembly and a possible role for the basal body in necklace assembly is suggested. In dividing cells, new oral cilia grow out prior to orientation of cilia-parasomal sac complexes relative to cell axes. In dividing cells and during oral reorganization, new cilia also develop prior to their alignment into membranelles. Thus, growth of cilia is independent of their spatial orientation. Fairy rings were not observed during oral reorganization. During cell division, proliferation of new cilia is accompanied by the formation of a network of junctions between a cortical system of membranous cisternae, the cortical ‘alveoli’. These interalveolar junctions may serve as tracks for early positioning and orientation of new oral basal bodies.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (20) ◽  
pp. 4623-4633 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Gallagher ◽  
L.G. Smith

In plant cells, cytokinesis depends on a cytoskeletal structure called a phragmoplast, which directs the formation of a new cell wall between daughter nuclei after mitosis. The orientation of cell division depends on guidance of the phragmoplast during cytokinesis to a cortical site marked throughout prophase by another cytoskeletal structure called a preprophase band. Asymmetrically dividing cells become polarized and form asymmetric preprophase bands prior to mitosis; phragmoplasts are subsequently guided to these asymmetric cortical sites to form daughter cells of different shapes and/or sizes. Here we describe two new recessive mutations, discordia1 (dcd1) and discordia2 (dcd2), which disrupt the spatial regulation of cytokinesis during asymmetric cell divisions. Both mutations disrupt four classes of asymmetric cell divisions during the development of the maize leaf epidermis, without affecting the symmetric divisions through which most epidermal cells arise. The effects of dcd mutations on asymmetric cell division can be mimicked by cytochalasin D treatment, and divisions affected by dcd1 are hypersensitive to the effects of cytochalasin D. Analysis of actin and microtubule organization in these mutants showed no effect of either mutation on cell polarity, or on formation and localization of preprophase bands and spindles. In mutant cells, phragmoplasts in asymmetrically dividing cells are structurally normal and are initiated in the correct location, but often fail to move to the position formerly occupied by the preprophase band. We propose that dcd mutations disrupt an actin-dependent process necessary for the guidance of phragmoplasts during cytokinesis in asymmetrically dividing cells.


Author(s):  
Ravinder Kumar ◽  
Meenakshi Agarwal

Proper and timely segregation of cellular genome is an important and a prime requirement of all cell division programmes. Mis-segregation of chromosomes and resulting aneuploidy leads to several clinical consequences. Over the years, shugoshin emerges as a key protein factor involved in the segregation of genetic material in dividing cells. Deletion or altered level of shugoshin is reported in several human malignancies, as a result, shugoshin now emerges as an important tumour associated gene and a possible target for cancer therapy. Apart from the role in cancer, recent studies also showed the involvement of shugoshin in several other clinical disorders. Through this review, we tried to highlight the clinical relevance of shugoshin.


2010 ◽  
Vol 192 (16) ◽  
pp. 4134-4142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Juarez ◽  
William Margolin

ABSTRACT The Min system regulates the positioning of the cell division site in many bacteria. In Escherichia coli, MinD migrates rapidly from one cell pole to the other. In conjunction with MinC, MinD helps to prevent unwanted FtsZ rings from assembling at the poles and to stabilize their positioning at midcell. Using time-lapse microscopy of growing and dividing cells expressing a gfp-minD fusion, we show that green fluorescent protein (GFP)-MinD often paused at midcell in addition to at the poles, and the frequency of midcell pausing increased as cells grew longer and cell division approached. At later stages of septum formation, GFP-MinD often paused specifically on only one side of the septum, followed by migration to the other side of the septum or to a cell pole. About the time of septum closure, this irregular pattern often switched to a transient double pole-to-pole oscillation in the daughter cells, which ultimately became a stable double oscillation. The splitting of a single MinD zone into two depends on the developing septum and is a potential mechanism to explain how MinD is distributed equitably to both daughter cells. Septal pausing of GFP-MinD did not require MinC, suggesting that MinC-FtsZ interactions do not drive MinD-septal interactions, and instead MinD recognizes a specific geometric, lipid, and/or protein target at the developing septum. Finally, we observed regular end-to-end oscillation over very short distances along the long axes of minicells, supporting the importance of geometry in MinD localization.


2016 ◽  
Vol 213 (6) ◽  
pp. 609-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul T. Conduit

Microtubule nucleation within cells is catalyzed by γ-tubulin ring complexes localized at specific microtubule-organizing centers. In this issue, Muroyama et al. (2016. J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201601099) reveal heterogeneity in the composition and function of these complexes, with wide implications for how cells organize their microtubule arrays.


Development ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Sondra C. Corff ◽  
Allison L. Burnett

When Hydra oligactis is excised below the tentacles and incubated for a short time in concentrations of colchicine that inhibit spindle formation in dividing cells, a peduncle and basal disc subsequently form at the cut distal end, where hypostome and tentacles normally form (Corff & Burnett, 1969). Since recent reports suggest a similarity in the action of colchicine and low temperature, in this study the effects of low temperatures on regenerating hydra were investigated. High hydrostatic pressure and low temperature have been shown to act synergistically with colchicine to inhibit the first mitotic division in sea urchin eggs (Marsland, 1968). Colchicine and cooling have also been shown to cause disintegration of the microtubule system in Actinosphaerium (Tilney, 1965). We have previously discussed peduncle and basal disc formation at the distal end in terms of colchicine inhibition of cell division and the possible action of colchicine on the nervous system (Corff & Burnett, 1969).


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