scholarly journals The NDC80 complex proteins Nuf2 and Hec1 make distinct contributions to kinetochore–microtubule attachment in mitosis

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 759-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynsie J.R. Sundin ◽  
Geoffrey J. Guimaraes ◽  
Jennifer G. DeLuca

Successful mitosis requires that kinetochores stably attach to the plus ends of spindle microtubules. Central to generating these attachments is the NDC80 complex, made of the four proteins Spc24, Spc25, Nuf2, and Hec1/Ndc80. Structural studies have revealed that portions of both Hec1 and Nuf2 N termini fold into calponin homology (CH) domains, which are known to mediate microtubule binding in certain proteins. Hec1 also contains a basic, positively charged stretch of amino acids that precedes its CH domain, referred to as the “tail.” Here, using a gene silence and rescue approach in HeLa cells, we show that the CH domain of Hec1, the CH domain of Nuf2, and the Hec1 tail each contributes to kinetochore–microtubule attachment in distinct ways. The most severe defects in kinetochore–microtubule attachment were observed in cells rescued with a Hec1 CH domain mutant, followed by those rescued with a Hec1 tail domain mutant. Cells rescued with Nuf2 CH domain mutants, however, generated stable kinetochore–microtubule attachments but failed to generate wild-type interkinetochore tension and failed to enter anaphase in a timely manner. These data suggest that the CH and tail domains of Hec1 generate essential contacts between kinetochores and microtubules in cells, whereas the Nuf2 CH domain does not.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Wimbish ◽  
Keith F. DeLuca ◽  
Jeanne E. Mick ◽  
Jack Himes ◽  
Ignacio J. Sánchez ◽  
...  

AbstractThe conserved kinetochore-associated NDC80 complex (comprised of Hec1/Ndc80, Nuf2, Spc24, and Spc25) has well-documented roles in mitosis including (1) connecting mitotic chromosomes to spindle microtubules to establish force-transducing kinetochore-microtubule attachments, and (2) regulating the binding strength between kinetochores and microtubules such that correct attachments are stabilized and erroneous attachments are released. Although the NDC80 complex plays a central role in forming and regulating attachments to microtubules, additional factors support these processes as well, including the spindle and kinetochore-associated (Ska) complex. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that Ska complexes strengthen attachments by increasing the ability of NDC80 complexes to bind microtubules, especially to depolymerizing microtubule plus-ends, but how this is accomplished remains unclear. Using cell-based and in vitro assays, we demonstrate that the Hec1 tail domain is dispensable for Ska complex recruitment to kinetochores and for generation of kinetochore-microtubule attachments in human cells. We further demonstrate that Hec1 tail phosphorylation regulates kinetochore-microtubule attachment stability independently of the Ska complex. Finally, we map the location of the Ska complex in cells to a region near the coiled-coil domain of the NDC80 complex, and demonstrate that this region is required for Ska complex recruitment to the NDC80 complex-microtubule interface.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 156 (3) ◽  
pp. 973-981
Author(s):  
Kevin C Keith ◽  
Molly Fitzgerald-Hayes

Abstract Each Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome contains a single centromere composed of three conserved DNA elements, CDE I, II, and III. The histone H3 variant, Cse4p, is an essential component of the S. cerevisiae centromere and is thought to replace H3 in specialized nucleosomes at the yeast centromere. To investigate the genetic interactions between Cse4p and centromere DNA, we measured the chromosome loss rates exhibited by cse4 cen3 double-mutant cells that express mutant Cse4 proteins and carry chromosomes containing mutant centromere DNA (cen3). When compared to loss rates for cells carrying the same cen3 DNA mutants but expressing wild-type Cse4p, we found that mutations throughout the Cse4p histone-fold domain caused surprisingly large increases in the loss of chromosomes carrying CDE I or CDE II mutant centromeres, but had no effect on chromosomes with CDE III mutant centromeres. Our genetic evidence is consistent with direct interactions between Cse4p and the CDE I-CDE II region of the centromere DNA. On the basis of these and other results from genetic, biochemical, and structural studies, we propose a model that best describes the path of the centromere DNA around a specialized Cse4p-nucleosome.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (14) ◽  
pp. 1453-1473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert T. Wimbish ◽  
Keith F. DeLuca ◽  
Jeanne E. Mick ◽  
Jack Himes ◽  
Ignacio Jiménez-Sánchez ◽  
...  

This study demonstrates that the Ska complex and the Hec1 tail domain contribute to kinetochore–microtubule attachment regulation independently. The Hec1 tail is shown to be dispensable for Ska complex recruitment to kinetochores and for formation of kinetochore–microtubule attachments, but required for wild-type force generation at kinetochores.


2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1217-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Tooley ◽  
Stephanie A. Miller ◽  
P. Todd Stukenberg

In kinetochores, the Ndc80 complex couples the energy in a depolymerizing microtubule to perform the work of moving chromosomes. The complex directly binds microtubules using an unstructured, positively charged N-terminal tail located on Hec1/Ndc80. Hec1/Ndc80 also contains a calponin homology domain (CHD) that increases its affinity for microtubules in vitro, yet whether it is required in cells and how the tail and CHD work together are critical unanswered questions. Human kinetochores containing Hec1/Ndc80 with point mutations in the CHD fail to align chromosomes or form productive microtubule attachments. Kinetochore architecture and spindle checkpoint protein recruitment are unaffected in these mutants, and the loss of CHD function cannot be rescued by removing Aurora B sites from the tail. The interaction between the Hec1/Ndc80 CHD and a microtubule is facilitated by positively charged amino acids on two separate regions of the CHD, and both are required for kinetochores to make stable attachments to microtubules. Chromosome congression in cells also requires positive charge on the Hec1 tail to facilitate microtubule contact. In vitro binding data suggest that charge on the tail regulates attachment by directly increasing microtubule affinity as well as driving cooperative binding of the CHD. These data argue that in vertebrates there is a tripartite attachment point facilitating the interaction between Hec1/Ndc80 and microtubules. We discuss how such a complex microtubule-binding interface may facilitate the coupling of depolymerization to chromosome movement.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1201-1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory H. Tully ◽  
Ryuichi Nishihama ◽  
John R. Pringle ◽  
David O. Morgan

The anaphase-promoting complex (APC) is a ubiquitin ligase that controls progression through mitosis by targeting specific proteins for degradation. It is unclear whether the APC also contributes to the control of cytokinesis, the process that divides the cell after mitosis. We addressed this question in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by studying the effects of APC mutations on the actomyosin ring, a structure containing actin, myosin, and several other proteins that forms at the division site and is important for cytokinesis. In wild-type cells, actomyosin-ring constituents are removed progressively from the ring during contraction and disassembled completely thereafter. In cells lacking the APC activator Cdh1, the actomyosin ring contracts at a normal rate, but ring constituents are not disassembled normally during or after contraction. After cytokinesis in mutant cells, aggregates of ring proteins remain at the division site and at additional foci in other parts of the cell. A key target of APCCdh1 is the ring component Iqg1, the destruction of which contributes to actomyosin-ring disassembly. Deletion of CDH1 also exacerbates actomyosin-ring disassembly defects in cells with mutations in the myosin light-chain Mlc2, suggesting that Mlc2 and the APC employ independent mechanisms to promote ring disassembly during cytokinesis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 208 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soonjoung Kim ◽  
Hongtao Yu

During mitosis, the spindle checkpoint senses kinetochores not properly attached to spindle microtubules and prevents precocious sister-chromatid separation and aneuploidy. The constitutive centromere-associated network (CCAN) at inner kinetochores anchors the KMN network consisting of Knl1, the Mis12 complex (Mis12C), and the Ndc80 complex (Ndc80C) at outer kinetochores. KMN is a critical kinetochore receptor for both microtubules and checkpoint proteins. Here, we show that nearly complete inactivation of KMN in human cells through multiple strategies produced strong checkpoint defects even when all kinetochores lacked microtubule attachment. These KMN-inactivating strategies reveal multiple KMN assembly mechanisms at human mitotic kinetochores. In one mechanism, the centromeric kinase Aurora B phosphorylates Mis12C and strengthens its binding to the CCAN subunit CENP-C. In another, CENP-T contributes to KMN attachment in a CENP-H-I-K–dependent manner. Our study provides insights into the mechanisms of mitosis-specific assembly of the checkpoint platform KMN at human kinetochores.


1993 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 947-957 ◽  
Author(s):  
D A Compton ◽  
D W Cleveland

NuMA is a 236-kD intranuclear protein that during mitosis is distributed into each daughter cell by association with the pericentrosomal domain of the spindle apparatus. The NuMA polypeptide consists of globular head and tail domains separated by a discontinuous 1500 amino acid coiled-coil spacer. Expression of human NuMA lacking its globular head domain results in cells that fail to undergo cytokinesis and assemble multiple small nuclei (micronuclei) in the subsequent interphase despite the appropriate localization of the truncated NuMA to both the nucleus and spindle poles. This dominant phenotype is morphologically identical to that of the tsBN2 cell line that carries a temperature-sensitive mutation in the chromatin-binding protein RCC1. At the restrictive temperature, these cells end mitosis without completing cytokinesis followed by micronucleation in the subsequent interphase. We demonstrate that the wild-type NuMA is degraded in the latest mitotic stages in these mutant cells and that NuMA is excluded from the micronuclei that assemble post-mitotically. Elevation of NuMA levels in these mutant cells by forcing the expression of wild-type NuMA is sufficient to restore post-mitotic assembly of a single normal-sized nucleus. Expression of human NuMA lacking its globular tail domain results in NuMA that fails both to target to interphase nuclei and to bind to the mitotic spindle. In the presence of this mutant, cells transit through mitosis normally, but assemble micronuclei in each daughter cell. The sum of these findings demonstrate that NuMA function is required during mitosis for the terminal phases of chromosome separation and/or nuclear reassembly.


2011 ◽  
Vol 193 (4) ◽  
pp. 741-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Telsa M. Mittelmeier ◽  
Joseph S. Boyd ◽  
Mary Rose Lamb ◽  
Carol L. Dieckmann

The eyespot of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a photoreceptive organelle required for phototaxis. Relative to the anterior flagella, the eyespot is asymmetrically positioned adjacent to the daughter four-membered rootlet (D4), a unique bundle of acetylated microtubules extending from the daughter basal body toward the posterior of the cell. Here, we detail the relationship between the rhodopsin eyespot photoreceptor Channelrhodopsin 1 (ChR1) and acetylated microtubules. In wild-type cells, ChR1 was observed in an equatorial patch adjacent to D4 near the end of the acetylated microtubules and along the D4 rootlet. In cells with cytoskeletal protein mutations, supernumerary ChR1 patches remained adjacent to acetylated microtubules. In mlt1 (multieyed) mutant cells, supernumerary photoreceptor patches were not restricted to the D4 rootlet, and more anterior eyespots correlated with shorter acetylated microtubule rootlets. The data suggest a model in which photoreceptor localization is dependent on microtubule-based trafficking selective for the D4 rootlet, which is perturbed in mlt1 mutant cells.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (23) ◽  
pp. 7363-7372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Sakamoto ◽  
Kaori Inoue-Sakamoto ◽  
Donald A. Bryant

ABSTRACT The nrtP and narB genes, encoding nitrate/nitrite permease and nitrate reductase, respectively, were isolated from the marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 and characterized. NrtP is a member of the major facilitator superfamily and is unrelated to the ATP-binding cassette-type nitrate transporters that previously have been described for freshwater strains of cyanobacteria. However, NrtP is similar to the NRT2-type nitrate transporters found in diverse organisms. An nrtP mutant strain consumes nitrate at a 4.5-fold-lower rate than the wild type, and this mutant grew exponentially on a medium containing 12 mM nitrate at a rate approximately 2-fold lower than that of the wild type. The nrtP mutant cells could not consume nitrite as rapidly as the wild type at pH 10, suggesting that NrtP also functions in nitrite uptake. A narB mutant was unable to grow on a medium containing nitrate as a nitrogen source, although this mutant could grow on media containing urea or nitrite with rates similar to those of the wild type. Exogenously added nitrite enhanced the in vivo activity of nitrite reductase in the narBmutant; this suggests that nitrite acts as a positive effector of nitrite reductase. Transcripts of the nrtP andnarB genes were detected in cells grown on nitrate but were not detected in cells grown on urea or ammonia. Transcription of thenrtP and narB genes is probably controlled by the NtcA transcription factor for global nitrogen control. The discovery of a nitrate/nitrite permease in Synechococcussp. strain PCC 7002 suggests that significant differences in nutrient transporters may occur in marine and freshwater cyanobacteria.


Author(s):  
Karen S. Howard ◽  
H. D. Braymer ◽  
M. D. Socolofsky ◽  
S. A. Milligan

The recently isolated cell wall mutant slime X of Neurospora crassa was prepared for ultrastructural and morphological comparison with the cell wall mutant slime. The purpose of this article is to discuss the methods of preparation for TEM and SEM observations, as well as to make a preliminary comparison of the two mutants.TEM: Cells of the slime mutant were prepared for thin sectioning by the method of Bigger, et al. Slime X cells were prepared in the same manner with the following two exceptions: the cells were embedded in 3% agar prior to fixation and the buffered solutions contained 5% sucrose throughout the procedure.SEM: Two methods were used to prepare mutant and wild type Neurospora for the SEM. First, single colonies of mutant cells and small areas of wild type hyphae were cut from solid media and fixed with OSO4 vapors similar to the procedure used by Harris, et al. with one alteration. The cell-containing agar blocks were dehydrated by immersion in 2,2-dimethoxypropane (DMP).


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