Time-resolved, in vivo studies of mitotic spindle formation and nuclear lamina breakdown in Drosophila early embryos

1996 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R. Paddy ◽  
H. Saumweber ◽  
D.A. Agard ◽  
J.W. Sedat

Time-resolved, two-component, three-dimensional fluorescence light microscopy imaging in living Drosophila early embryos is used to demonstrate that a large fraction of the nuclear envelope lamins remain localized to a rim in the nuclear periphery until well into metaphase. The process of lamin delocalization and dispersal, typical of ‘open’ forms of mitosis, does not begin until about the time the final, metaphase geometry of the mitotic spindle is attained. Lamin dispersal is completed about the time that the chromosomal movements of anaphase begin. This pattern of nuclear lamina breakdown appears to be intermediate between traditional designations of ‘open’ and ‘closed’ mitoses. These results thus clarify earlier observations of lamins in mitosis in fixed Drosophila early embryos, clearly showing that the observed lamin localization does not result from a structurally defined ‘spindle envelope’ that persists throughout mitosis. During this extended time interval of lamin localization in the nuclear periphery, the lamina undergoes an extensive series of structural rearrangements that are closely coupled to, and likely driven by, the movements of the centrosomes and microtubules that produce the mitotic spindle. Furthermore, throughout this time the nuclear envelope structure is permeable to large macromolecules, which are excluded in interphase. While the functional significance of these structural dynamics is not yet clear, it is consistent with a functional role for the lamina in mitotic spindle formation.

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 4355-4370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Askjaer ◽  
Vincent Galy ◽  
Eva Hannak ◽  
Iain W. Mattaj

The small GTPase Ran has been found to play pivotal roles in several aspects of cell function. We have investigated the role of the Ran GTPase cycle in spindle formation and nuclear envelope assembly in dividing Caenorhabditis elegans embryos in real time. We found that Ran and its cofactors RanBP2, RanGAP, and RCC1 are all essential for reformation of the nuclear envelope after cell division. Reducing the expression of any of these components of the Ran GTPase cycle by RNAi leads to strong extranuclear clustering of integral nuclear envelope proteins and nucleoporins. Ran, RanBP2, and RanGAP are also required for building a mitotic spindle, whereas astral microtubules are normal in the absence of these proteins. RCC1(RNAi) embryos have similar abnormalities in the initial phase of spindle formation but eventually recover to form a bipolar spindle. Irregular chromatin structures and chromatin bridges due to spindle failure were frequently observed in embryos where the Ran cycle was perturbed. In addition, connection between the centrosomes and the male pronucleus, and thus centrosome positioning, depends upon the Ran cycle components. Finally, we have demonstrated that both IMA-2 and IMB-1, the homologues of vertebrate importin α and β, are essential for both spindle assembly and nuclear formation in early embryos.


1993 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 743-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Winey ◽  
MA Hoyt ◽  
C Chan ◽  
L Goetsch ◽  
D Botstein ◽  
...  

The spindle pole body (SPB) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae serves as the centrosome in this organism, undergoing duplication early in the cell cycle to generate the two poles of the mitotic spindle. The conditional lethal mutation ndc1-1 has previously been shown to cause asymmetric segregation, wherein all the chromosomes go to one pole of the mitotic spindle (Thomas, J. H., and D. Botstein. 1986. Cell. 44:65-76). Examination by electron microscopy of mutant cells subjected to the nonpermissive temperature reveals a defect in SPB duplication. Although duplication is seen to occur, the nascent SPB fails to undergo insertion into the nuclear envelope. The parental SPB remains functional, organizing a monopolar spindle to which all the chromosomes are presumably attached. Order-of-function experiments reveal that the NDC1 function is required in G1 after alpha-factor arrest but before the arrest caused by cdc34. Molecular analysis shows that the NDC1 gene is essential and that it encodes a 656 amino acid protein (74 kD) with six or seven putative transmembrane domains. This evidence for membrane association is further supported by immunofluorescent localization of the NDC1 product to the vicinity of the nuclear envelope. These findings suggest that the NDC1 protein acts within the nuclear envelope to mediate insertion of the nascent SPB.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 829-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jindriska Fiserova ◽  
Martin W. Goldberg

The nuclear envelope comprises a distinct compartment at the nuclear periphery that provides a platform for communication between the nucleus and cytoplasm. Signal transfer can proceed by multiple means. Primarily, this is by nucleocytoplasmic trafficking facilitated by NPCs (nuclear pore complexes). Recently, it has been indicated that signals can be transmitted from the cytoskeleton to the intranuclear structures via interlinking transmembrane proteins. In animal cells, the nuclear lamina tightly underlies the inner nuclear membrane and thus represents the protein structure located at the furthest boundary of the nucleus. It enables communication between the nucleus and the cytoplasm via its interactions with chromatin-binding proteins, transmembrane and membrane-associated proteins. Of particular interest is the interaction of the nuclear lamina with NPCs. As both structures fulfil essential roles in close proximity at the nuclear periphery, their interactions have a large impact on cellular processes resulting in affects on tissue differentiation and development. The present review concentrates on the structural and functional lamina–NPC relationship in animal cells and its potential implications to plants.


Author(s):  
Larry Gerace ◽  
Ueli Aebi ◽  
Brian Burke ◽  
Frank Suprynowicz

The nuclear lamina is a protein meshwork that lines the nucleoplasmic surface of the nuclear envelope. In numerous higher eukaryotic cells, the lamina is known to contain a polymer of 1-3 major polypeptides (“lamins“) that form an insoluble supramolecular assembly during interphase. The lamina is thought to provide both a skeletal framework for the nuclear envelope (that regulates its disassembly and reformation during mitosis) and an anchoring site at the nuclear periphery for interphase chromosomes. Recent structural and functional studies on the nuclear lamina have yielded important new insight on its roles in nuclear architecture.Using electron microscopy, we found that the nuclear lamina of Xenopus oocytes is a meshwork of intermediate-sized (8-12 nm) filaments arranged in a near-tetragonal lattice having a spacing of 52 nm.


2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (18) ◽  
pp. 3233-3241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Künzler ◽  
Ed Hurt

The Ran GTPase plays a key role in nucleocytoplasmic transport. In its GTP-bound form, it directly interacts with members of the importin β family of nuclear transport receptors and modulates their association with cargo. Work in cell-free higher-eukaryote systems has demonstrated additional roles for Ran in spindle and nuclear envelope formation during mitosis. However, until recently, no Ran-target proteins in these cellular processes were known. Several groups have now identified importin β as one important target of Ran during mitotic spindle formation. This finding suggests that Ran uses the same effectors to regulate different cellular processes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 1421-1436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Holden ◽  
Ludek Koreny ◽  
Samson Obado ◽  
Alexander V. Ratushny ◽  
Wei-Ming Chen ◽  
...  

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) has dual roles in nucleocytoplasmic transport and chromatin organization. In many eukaryotes the coiled-coil Mlp/Tpr proteins of the NPC nuclear basket have specific functions in interactions with chromatin and defining specialized regions of active transcription, whereas Mlp2 associates with the mitotic spindle/NPC in a cell cycle–dependent manner. We previously identified two putative Mlp-related proteins in African trypanosomes, TbNup110 and TbNup92, the latter of which associates with the spindle. We now provide evidence for independent ancestry for TbNup92/TbNup110 and Mlp/Tpr proteins. However, TbNup92 is required for correct chromosome segregation, with knockout cells exhibiting microaneuploidy and lowered fidelity of telomere segregation. Further, TbNup92 is intimately associated with the mitotic spindle and spindle anchor site but apparently has minimal roles in control of gene transcription, indicating that TbNup92 lacks major barrier activity. TbNup92 therefore acts as a functional analogue of Mlp/Tpr proteins, and, together with the lamina analogue NUP-1, represents a cohort of novel proteins operating at the nuclear periphery of trypanosomes, uncovering complex evolutionary trajectories for the NPC and nuclear lamina.


2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-Hui Chi ◽  
Wan-Ping Wang ◽  
Ming-Chun Hung ◽  
Gunn-Guang Liou ◽  
Jing-Ya Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractThe cause of nuclear shape abnormalities which are often seen in pre-neoplastic and malignant tissues is not clear. In this study we report that deformation of the nucleus can be induced by TGFβ1 stimulation in several cell lines including Huh7. In our results, the upregulated histone H3.3 expression downstream of SMAD signaling contributed to TGFβ1-induced nuclear deformation, a process of which requires incorporation of the nuclear envelope (NE) proteins lamin B1 and SUN1. During this process, the NE constitutively ruptured and reformed. Contrast to lamin B1 which was relatively stationary around the nucleus, the upregulated lamin A was highly mobile, clustering at the nuclear periphery and reintegrating into the nucleoplasm. The chromatin regions that lost NE coverage formed a supra-nucleosomal structure characterized by elevated histone H3K27me3 and histone H1, the formation of which depended on the presence of lamin A. These results provide evidence that shape of the nucleus can be modulated through TGFβ1-induced compositional changes in the chromatin and nuclear lamina.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-Hui Chi ◽  
Wan-Ping Wang ◽  
Ming-Chun Hung ◽  
Gunn-Guang Liou ◽  
Jing-Ya Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract The cause of nuclear shape abnormalities which are often seen in pre-neoplastic and malignant tissues is not clear. In this study we report that deformation of the nucleus can be induced by TGFβ1 stimulation in several cell lines including Huh7. In our results, the upregulated histone H3.3 expression downstream of SMAD signaling contributed to TGFβ1-induced nuclear deformation, a process of which requires incorporation of the nuclear envelope (NE) proteins lamin B1 and SUN1. During this process, the NE constitutively ruptured and reformed with no observable indications of DNA damage response. Contrast to lamin B1 which was relatively stationary around the nucleus, the upregulated lamin A was highly mobile, shuttling between the nucleus and cytoplasm, and clustering at the nuclear periphery. The chromatin regions that lost NE coverage formed a supra-nucleosomal structure characterized by elevated histone H3K27me3 and histone H1, the formation of which depended on the presence of lamin A. These results provide evidence that shape of the nucleus can be modulated through TGFβ1-induced compositional changes in the chromatin and nuclear lamina.


1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (15) ◽  
pp. 2227-2234 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Alsheimer ◽  
E. Fecher ◽  
R. Benavente

Lamina-associated polypeptide 2 (LAP2) and the thymopoietins (TPs) are a family of proteins described in somatic cells of mammals, which are derived by alternative splicing from a single gene. For one of the members of the family (LAP2 = TPbeta) it has been shown that this integral membrane protein locates to the inner membrane of the nuclear envelope, and that it binds to chromatin and B-type lamins. In the present study, we observed that during the third phase of spermatogenesis (i.e. spermiogenesis), TP-labelling shifted progressively to one half of the nuclear periphery in round spermatids. In the elongating spermatid the signal then becomes restricted to one spot located at the posterior (centriolar) pole of the nucleus. Changes in localization are accompanied by the disappearance, first of TPgamma, and later on of LAP2/TPbeta. TPalpha is the only member of the family detectable in the mature sperm. Concomitantly, lamin B1, the only nuclear lamina protein known to be expressed in mammalian spermatids, showed a similar behaviour, i.e. shifted progressively to the centriolar pole of spermatid nuclei before it became undetectable in fully differentiated mature sperms. These results are the first demonstration that expression and localization patterns of TPs are coordinately and differentially regulated with lamins during a differentiation process.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic Li Mow Chee ◽  
Bruno Beernaert ◽  
Alexander E P Loftus ◽  
Yatendra Kumar ◽  
Billie G C Griffith ◽  
...  

Interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix, mediated by integrin adhesion complexes (IACs), play key roles in cancer progression and metastasis. We investigated systems-level changes in the integrin adhesome during metastatic progression of a patient-derived cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), and found that the actin regulatory protein Mena is enriched in IACs in metastatic cSCC cells. Mena is connected within a subnetwork of actin-binding proteins to the LINC complex component nesprin-2, with which it interacts and co-localises at the nuclear envelope of metastatic cells. Moreover, Mena potentiates the interactions of nesprin-2 with the actin cytoskeleton and the nuclear lamina. CRISPR-mediated Mena depletion causes altered nuclear morphology, reduces tyrosine phosphorylation of the nuclear membrane protein emerin and downregulates expression of the immunomodulatory gene PTX3 via the recruitment of its enhancer to the nuclear periphery. We have uncovered an unexpected novel role for Mena at the nuclear membrane, where it controls the LINC complex, nuclear architecture, chromatin repositioning and cancer gene expression. This is the first description of an adhesion protein regulating gene transcription via direct signalling across the nuclear envelope.


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