scholarly journals Caenorhabditis elegans Aurora A kinase is required for the formation of spindle microtubules in female meiosis

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (23) ◽  
pp. 4187-4196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eisuke Sumiyoshi ◽  
Yuma Fukata ◽  
Satoshi Namai ◽  
Asako Sugimoto
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Kinase Activity ◽  
Active Form ◽  
Meiotic Spindle ◽  
Aurora A Kinase ◽  
Aurora A ◽  
Female Meiosis ◽  
Germinal Vesicle Breakdown ◽  
Meiotic Spindles ◽  
Spindle Microtubules

In many animals, female meiotic spindles are assembled in the absence of centrosomes, the major microtubule (MT)-organizing centers. How MTs are formed and organized into meiotic spindles is poorly understood. Here we report that, in Caenorhabditis elegans, Aurora A kinase/AIR-1 is required for the formation of spindle microtubules during female meiosis. When AIR-1 was depleted or its kinase activity was inhibited in C. elegans oocytes, although MTs were formed around chromosomes at germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), they were decreased during meiotic prometaphase and failed to form a bipolar spindle, and chromosomes were not separated into two masses. Whereas AIR-1 protein was detected on and around meiotic spindles, its kinase-active form was concentrated on chromosomes at prometaphase and on interchromosomal MTs during late anaphase and telophase. We also found that AIR-1 is involved in the assembly of short, dynamic MTs in the meiotic cytoplasm, and these short MTs were actively incorporated into meiotic spindles. Collectively our results suggest that, after GVBD, the kinase activity of AIR-1 is continuously required for the assembly and/or stabilization of female meiotic spindle MTs.

scholarly journals The nucleoporin Nup205/NPP-3 is lost near centrosomes at mitotic onset and can modulate the timing of this process in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (16) ◽  
pp. 3111-3121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginie Hachet ◽  
Coralie Busso ◽  
Mika Toya ◽  
Asako Sugimoto ◽  
Peter Askjaer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Division ◽  
Rna Interference ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Nuclear Envelope ◽  
Aurora A Kinase ◽  
Aurora A ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Local Loss ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

Regulation of mitosis in time and space is critical for proper cell division. We conducted an RNA interference–based modifier screen to identify novel regulators of mitosis in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. Of particular interest, this screen revealed that the Nup205 nucleoporin NPP-3 can negatively modulate the timing of mitotic onset. Furthermore, we discovered that NPP-3 and nucleoporins that are associated with it are lost from the nuclear envelope (NE) in the vicinity of centrosomes at the onset of mitosis. We demonstrate that centrosomes are both necessary and sufficient for NPP-3 local loss, which also requires the activity of the Aurora-A kinase AIR-1. Our findings taken together support a model in which centrosomes and AIR-1 promote timely onset of mitosis by locally removing NPP-3 and associated nucleoporins from the NE.

scholarly journals A Novel Cell-Based, High-Content Assay for Phosphorylation of Lats2 by Aurora A

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 925-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Emery ◽  
David A. Sorrell ◽  
Stacy Lawrence ◽  
Emma Easthope ◽  
Mark Stockdale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput ◽  
High Throughput Screening ◽  
Kinase Activity ◽  
High Content Screening ◽  
Aurora A Kinase ◽  
Aurora A ◽  
Assay Performance ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Significant Addition ◽  
Specific Inhibitors

Aurora A kinase is a key regulator of mitosis, which is upregulated in several human cancers, making it a potential target for anticancer therapeutics. Consequently, robust medium- to high-throughput cell-based assays to measure Aurora A kinase activity are critical for the development of small-molecule inhibitors. Here the authors compare measurement of the phosphorylation of two Aurora A substrates previously used in high-content screening Aurora A assays, Aurora A itself and TACC3, with a novel substrate Lats2. Using antibodies directed against phosphorylated forms of Aurora A (pThr288), P-TACC3 (pSer558), and P-Lats2 (pSer83), the authors investigate their suitability in parallel for development of a cell-based assay using several reference Aurora inhibitors: MLN8054, VX680, and AZD1152-HQPA. They validate a combined assay of target-specific phosphorylation of Lats2 at the centrosome and an increase in mitotic index as a measure of Aurora A activity. The assay is both sensitive and robust and has acceptable assay performance for high-throughput screening or potency estimation from concentration–response assays. It has the advantage that it can be carried out using a commercially available monoclonal antibody against phospho-Lats2 and the widely available Cellomics ArrayScan HCS reader and thus represents a significant addition to the tools available for the identification of Aurora A specific inhibitors.

Role of microtubules and microtubule organizing centers on meiotic chromosome elimination in Sciara ocellaris

1997 ◽  
Vol 110 (6) ◽  
pp. 721-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R. Esteban ◽  
M.C. Campos ◽  
A.L. Perondini ◽  
C. Goday
Keyword(s):  
Meiotic Chromosome ◽  
Chromosome Elimination ◽  
Male Meiosis ◽  
Meiotic Spindle ◽  
Monopolar Spindle ◽  
Meiotic Spindles ◽  
Cytoplasmic Microtubules ◽  
Spindle Microtubules ◽  
Meiosis I

Spindle formation and chromosome elimination during male meiosis in Sciara ocellaris (Diptera, Sciaridae) has been studied by immunofluorescence techniques. During meiosis I a monopolar spindle is formed from a single polar complex (centrosome-like structure). This single centrosomal structure persists during meiosis II and is responsible for the non-disjunction of the maternal X chromatids. During meiosis I and II non-spindle microtubules are assembled in the cytoplasmic bud regions of the spermatocytes. The chromosomes undergoing elimination during both meiotic divisions are segregated to the bud region where they associate with bundles of microtubules. The presence and distribution of centrosomal antigens in S. ocellaris meiotic spindles and bud regions has been investigated using different antibodies. gamma-Tubulin and centrin are present in the bud as well as in the single polar complex of first meiotic spindle. The results suggest that spermatocyte bud regions contain microtubule-organizing centres (MTOCs) that nucleate cytoplasmic microtubules that are involved in capturing chromosomes in the bud regions. The distribution of actin and myosin in the spermatocytes during meiosis is also reported.

scholarly journals Aurora A kinase activity is required for localization of TACC3/ch-TOG/clathrin inter-microtubule bridges

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam P. Cheeseman ◽  
Daniel G. Booth ◽  
Fiona E. Hood ◽  
Ian A. Prior ◽  
Stephen J. Royle
Keyword(s):  
Kinase Activity ◽  
Aurora A Kinase ◽  
Aurora A

scholarly journals Aurora A kinase activity is required to maintain an active spindle assembly checkpoint during prometaphase

2018 ◽  
Vol 131 (7) ◽  
pp. jcs191353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibault Courtheoux ◽  
Alghassimou Diallo ◽  
Arun Prasath Damodaran ◽  
David Reboutier ◽  
Erwan Watrin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spindle Assembly Checkpoint ◽  
Kinase Activity ◽  
Spindle Assembly ◽  
Aurora A Kinase ◽  
Aurora A

Evidence that the spindle assembly checkpoint does not regulate APCFzy activity in Drosophila female meiosis

Genome ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamah Batiha ◽  
Andrew Swan
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Segregation ◽  
Spindle Assembly Checkpoint ◽  
Spindle Assembly ◽  
Cyclin B ◽  
Meiotic Spindle ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Female Meiosis ◽  
Chromosome Attachment ◽  
Spindle Microtubules ◽  
Made In

The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) plays an important role in mitotic cells to sense improper chromosome attachment to spindle microtubules and to inhibit APCFzy-dependent destruction of cyclin B and Securin; consequent initiation of anaphase until correct attachments are made. In Drosophila , SAC genes have been found to play a role in ensuring proper chromosome segregation in meiosis, possibly reflecting a similar role for the SAC in APCFzy inhibition during meiosis. We found that loss of function mutations in SAC genes, Mad2, zwilch, and mps1, do not lead to the predicted rise in APCFzy-dependent degradation of cyclin B either globally throughout the egg or locally on the meiotic spindle. Further, the SAC is not responsible for the inability of APCFzy to target cyclin B and promote anaphase in metaphase II arrested eggs from cort mutant females. Our findings support the argument that SAC proteins play checkpoint independent roles in Drosophila female meiosis and that other mechanisms must function to control APC activity.

scholarly journals Aurora-A kinase is required for centrosome maturation in Caenorhabditis elegans

2001 ◽  
Vol 155 (7) ◽  
pp. 1109-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Hannak ◽  
Matthew Kirkham ◽  
Anthony A. Hyman ◽  
Karen Oegema
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Fluorescence Intensity ◽  
Maturation Process ◽  
Aurora A Kinase ◽  
Aurora A ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Nuclear Envelope Breakdown ◽  
Pericentriolar Material

Centrosomes mature as cells enter mitosis, accumulating γ-tubulin and other pericentriolar material (PCM) components. This occurs concomitant with an increase in the number of centrosomally organized microtubules (MTs). Here, we use RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) to examine the role of the aurora-A kinase, AIR-1, during centrosome maturation in Caenorhabditis elegans. In air-1(RNAi) embryos, centrosomes separate normally, an event that occurs before maturation in C. elegans. After nuclear envelope breakdown, the separated centrosomes collapse together, and spindle assembly fails. In mitotic air-1(RNAi) embryos, centrosomal α-tubulin fluorescence intensity accumulates to only 40% of wild-type levels, suggesting a defect in the maturation process. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that AIR-1 is required for the increase in centrosomal γ-tubulin and two other PCM components, ZYG-9 and CeGrip, as embryos enter mitosis. Furthermore, the AIR-1–dependent increase in centrosomal γ-tubulin does not require MTs. These results suggest that aurora-A kinases are required to execute a MT-independent pathway for the recruitment of PCM during centrosome maturation.

scholarly journals Mutations at the asp locus of Drosophila lead to multiple free centrosomes in syncytial embryos, but restrict centrosome duplication in larval neuroblasts

1990 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 605-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Gonzalez ◽  
R.D. Saunders ◽  
J. Casal ◽  
I. Molina ◽  
M. Carmena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitotic Index ◽  
Centrosome Duplication ◽  
Mitotic Spindles ◽  
Female Meiosis ◽  
Metaphase Chromosomes ◽  
Meiotic Spindles ◽  
Spindle Microtubules ◽  
As If

Mutations at abnormal spindle result in abnormally long and wavy microtubules in the meiotic spindles of males. Some of these spindles have a single pole and take the form of unopposed hemi-spindles. Unfertilised eggs produced by homozygous asp females may have either no nuclei, or a small number of large nuclei, consistent with there also being an effect upon female meiosis. Such eggs also display free centrosomes and independent arrays of microtubules. Embryos that have this phenotype are also present among the progeny of fertilised homozygous asp females, together with embryos that undergo varying degrees of aberrant morphogenesis, developing a variety of abnormal cuticle patterns. This latter category shows asynchronous mitoses prior to cellularisation, and has abnormal arrays of spindle microtubules. Such embryos can develop large areas that are either devoid of or have a reduced number of nuclei, in which there are centrosomes that have dissociated from the mitotic spindles. Neuroblasts in the brains of homozygous asp larvae display a high mitotic index, and have condensed chromosomes aligned as if blocked at metaphase. Immunostaining reveals that many cells contain a single centrosome connected to the metaphase chromosomes by microtubules in a hemi-spindle-like structure.

Acentriolar spindle assembly in mammalian female meiosis and the consequences of its perturbations on human reproduction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia S Blengini ◽  
Karen Schindler
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Human Reproduction ◽  
Meiotic Spindle ◽  
Female Meiosis ◽  
Spindle Formation ◽  
Cellular Machinery ◽  
Meiotic Spindles ◽  
Mammalian Female ◽  
Oocyte Meiotic Maturation

Abstract The purpose of meiosis is to generate developmentally competent, haploid gametes with the correct number of chromosomes. For reasons not completely understood, female meiosis is more prone to chromosome segregation errors than meiosis in males, leading to an abnormal number of chromosomes, or aneuploidy, in gametes. Meiotic spindles are the cellular machinery essential for the proper segregation of chromosomes. One unique feature of spindle structures in female meiosis is spindles poles that lack centrioles. The process of building a meiotic spindle without centrioles is complex and requires precise coordination of different structural components, assembly factors, motor proteins, and signaling molecules at specific times and locations to regulate each step. In this review, we discuss the basics of spindle formation during oocyte meiotic maturation focusing on mouse and human studies. Finally, we review different factors that could alter the process of spindle formation and its stability. We conclude with a discussion of how different assisted reproductive technologies (ART) could affect spindles and the consequences these perturbations may have for subsequent embryo development.

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