scholarly journals An assay for de novo kinetochore assembly reveals a key role for the CENP-T pathway in budding yeast

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Lang ◽  
Adrienne Barber ◽  
Sue Biggins

Chromosome segregation depends on the kinetochore, the machine that establishes force-bearing attachments between DNA and spindle microtubules. Kinetochores are formed every cell cycle via a highly regulated process that requires coordinated assembly of multiple subcomplexes on specialized chromatin. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we developed an assay to assemble kinetochores de novo using centromeric DNA and budding yeast extracts. Assembly is enhanced by mitotic phosphorylation of the Dsn1 kinetochore protein and generates kinetochores capable of binding microtubules. We used this assay to investigate why kinetochores recruit the microtubule-binding Ndc80 complex via two receptors: the Mis12 complex and CENP-T. Although the CENP-T pathway is non-essential in yeast, we demonstrate that it becomes essential for viability and Ndc80c recruitment when the Mis12 pathway is crippled by defects in Dsn1 phosphorylation. Assembling kinetochores de novo in yeast extracts provides a powerful and genetically tractable method to elucidate critical regulatory events in the future.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Lang ◽  
Adrienne Barber ◽  
Sue Biggins

ABSTRACTChromosome segregation depends on the kinetochore, the machine that establishes force-bearing attachments between DNA and spindle microtubules. Kinetochores are formed every cell cycle via a highly regulated process that requires coordinated assembly of multiple subcomplexes on specialized chromatin. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we developed an assay to assemble kinetochores de novo using centromeric DNA and budding yeast extracts. Assembly is enhanced by mitotic phosphorylation of the Dsn1 kinetochore protein and generates kinetochores capable of binding microtubules. We used this assay to investigate why kinetochores recruit the microtubule-binding Ndc80 complex via two receptors: the Mis12 complex and CENP-T. Although the CENP-T pathway is non-essential in yeast, we demonstrate that it becomes essential for viability and Ndc80c recruitment when the Mis12 pathway is crippled by defects in Dsn1 phosphorylation. Assembling kinetochores de novo in yeast extracts provides a powerful and genetically tractable method to elucidate critical regulatory events in the future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1201-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bungo Akiyoshi

The kinetochore is the macromolecular protein complex that drives chromosome segregation in eukaryotes. Its most fundamental function is to connect centromeric DNA to dynamic spindle microtubules. Studies in popular model eukaryotes have shown that centromere protein (CENP)-A is critical for DNA-binding, whereas the Ndc80 complex is essential for microtubule-binding. Given their conservation in diverse eukaryotes, it was widely believed that all eukaryotes would utilize these components to make up a core of the kinetochore. However, a recent study identified an unconventional type of kinetochore in evolutionarily distant kinetoplastid species, showing that chromosome segregation can be achieved using a distinct set of proteins. Here, I review the discovery of the two kinetochore systems and discuss how their studies contribute to a better understanding of the eukaryotic chromosome segregation machinery.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Quan ◽  
Stephen M. Hinshaw ◽  
Pang-Che Wang ◽  
Stephen C. Harrison ◽  
Huilin Zhou

ABSTRACTThe step-by-step process of chromosome segregation defines the stages of the cell division cycle. In eukaryotes, signaling pathways that control these steps converge upon the kinetochore, a multiprotein assembly that connects spindle microtubules to the centromere of each chromosome. Kinetochores control and adapt to major chromosomal transactions, including replication of centromeric DNA, biorientation of sister centromeres on the metaphase spindle, and transit of sister chromatids into daughter cells during anaphase. Although the mechanisms that ensure tight microtubule coupling at anaphase are at least partly understood, kinetochore adaptations that support other cell cycle transitions are not. We report here a mechanism that enables regulated control of kinetochore sumoylation. A conserved surface of the Ctf3/CENP-I kinetochore protein provides a binding site for the SUMO protease, Ulp2. Ctf3 mutations that disable Ulp2 recruitment cause elevated inner kinetochore sumoylation and defective chromosome segregation. The location of the site within the assembled kinetochore suggests coordination between sumoylation and other cell cycle-regulated processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (48) ◽  
pp. e2104459118
Author(s):  
Qianhua Dong ◽  
Xue-lei Liu ◽  
Xiao-hui Wang ◽  
Yu Zhao ◽  
Yu-hang Chen ◽  
...  

Kinetochores, a protein complex assembled on centromeres, mediate chromosome segregation. In most eukaryotes, centromeres are epigenetically specified by the histone H3 variant CENP-A. CENP-T, an inner kinetochore protein, serves as a platform for the assembly of the outer kinetochore Ndc80 complex during mitosis. How CENP-T is regulated through the cell cycle remains unclear. Ccp1 (counteracter of CENP-A loading protein 1) associates with centromeres during interphase but delocalizes from centromeres during mitosis. Here, we demonstrated that Ccp1 directly interacts with CENP-T. CENP-T is important for the association of Ccp1 with centromeres, whereas CENP-T centromeric localization depends on Mis16, a homolog of human RbAp48/46. We identified a Ccp1-interaction motif (CIM) at the N terminus of CENP-T, which is adjacent to the Ndc80 receptor motif. The CIM domain is required for Ccp1 centromeric localization, and the CIM domain–deleted mutant phenocopies ccp1Δ. The CIM domain can be phosphorylated by CDK1 (cyclin-dependent kinase 1). Phosphorylation of CIM weakens its interaction with Ccp1. Consistent with this, Ccp1 dissociates from centromeres through all stages of the cell cycle in the phosphomimetic mutant of the CIM domain, whereas in the phospho-null mutant of the domain, Ccp1 associates with centromeres during mitosis. We further show that the phospho-null mutant disrupts the positioning of the Ndc80 complex during mitosis, resulting in chromosome missegregation. This work suggests that competitive exclusion between Ccp1 and Ndc80 at the N terminus of CENP-T via phosphorylation ensures precise kinetochore assembly during mitosis and uncovers a previously unrecognized mechanism underlying kinetochore assembly through the cell cycle.


2021 ◽  
Vol 220 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Quan ◽  
Stephen M. Hinshaw ◽  
Pang-Che Wang ◽  
Stephen C. Harrison ◽  
Huilin Zhou

The step-by-step process of chromosome segregation defines the stages of the cell cycle. In eukaryotes, signals controlling these steps converge upon the kinetochore, a multiprotein assembly that connects spindle microtubules to chromosomal centromeres. Kinetochores control and adapt to major chromosomal transactions, including replication of centromeric DNA, biorientation of sister centromeres on the metaphase spindle, and transit of sister chromatids into daughter cells during anaphase. Although the mechanisms that ensure tight microtubule coupling at anaphase are at least partly understood, kinetochore adaptations that support other cell cycle transitions are not. We report here a mechanism that enables regulated control of kinetochore sumoylation. A conserved surface of the Ctf3/CENP-I kinetochore protein provides a binding site for Ulp2, the nuclear enzyme that removes SUMO chains from modified substrates. Ctf3 mutations that disable Ulp2 recruitment cause elevated inner kinetochore sumoylation and defective chromosome segregation. The location of the site within the assembled kinetochore suggests coordination between sumoylation and other cell cycle–regulated processes.


2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 5649-5660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Collins ◽  
Andrea R. Castillo ◽  
Sean Y. Tatsutani ◽  
Sue Biggins

Kinetochores mediate chromosome attachment to the mitotic spindle to ensure accurate chromosome segregation. Budding yeast is an excellent organism for kinetochore assembly studies because it has a simple defined centromere sequence responsible for the localization of >65 proteins. In addition, yeast is the only organism where a conditional centromere is available to allow studies of de novo kinetochore assembly. Using a conditional centromere, we found that yeast kinetochore assembly is not temporally restricted and can occur in both G1 phase and prometaphase. We performed the first investigation of kinetochore assembly in the absence of the centromeric histone H3 variant Cse4 and found that all proteins tested depend on Cse4 to localize. Consistent with this observation, Cse4-depleted cells had severe chromosome segregation defects. We therefore propose that yeast kinetochore assembly requires both centromeric DNA specificity and centromeric chromatin.


2013 ◽  
Vol 201 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen E. Gascoigne ◽  
Iain M. Cheeseman

Accurate chromosome segregation requires assembly of the multiprotein kinetochore complex. Prior work has identified more than 100 different kinetochore components in human cells. However, little is known about the regulatory processes that specify their assembly upon mitotic entry and disassembly at mitotic exit. In this paper, we used a live-cell imaging–based assay to quantify kinetochore disassembly kinetics and systematically analyze the role of potential regulatory mechanisms in controlling kinetochore assembly state. We find that kinetochore assembly and disassembly was driven primarily by mitotic phosphorylation downstream of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK). In addition, we demonstrate that nuclear exclusion of the Ndc80 complex helped restrict kinetochore formation to mitosis. Combining constitutive CDK-dependent phosphorylation of CENP-T and forced nuclear localization of the Ndc80 complex partially prevented kinetochore disassembly at mitotic exit and led to chromosome segregation defects in subsequent divisions. In total, we find that the coordinated temporal regulation of outer kinetochore assembly is essential for accurate cell division.


eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M Hinshaw ◽  
Andrew N Dates ◽  
Stephen C Harrison

Kinetochores are the chromosomal attachment points for spindle microtubules. They are also signaling hubs that control major cell cycle transitions and coordinate chromosome folding. Most well-studied eukaryotes rely on a conserved set of factors, which are divided among two loosely-defined groups, for these functions. Outer kinetochore proteins contact microtubules or regulate this contact directly. Inner kinetochore proteins designate the kinetochore assembly site by recognizing a specialized nucleosome containing the H3 variant Cse4/CENP-A. We previously determined the structure, resolved by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), of the yeast Ctf19 complex (Ctf19c, homologous to the vertebrate CCAN), providing a high-resolution view of inner kinetochore architecture (Hinshaw and Harrison, 2019). We now extend these observations by reporting a near-atomic model of the Ctf3 complex, the outermost Ctf19c sub-assembly seen in our original cryo-EM density. The model is sufficiently well-determined by the new data to enable molecular interpretation of Ctf3 recruitment and function.


2020 ◽  
Vol 219 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisela Cairo ◽  
Anne M. MacKenzie ◽  
Soni Lacefield

Accurate chromosome segregation depends on the proper attachment of kinetochores to spindle microtubules before anaphase onset. The Ipl1/Aurora B kinase corrects improper attachments by phosphorylating kinetochore components and so releasing aberrant kinetochore–microtubule interactions. The localization of Ipl1 to kinetochores in budding yeast depends upon multiple pathways, including the Bub1–Bub3 pathway. We show here that in meiosis, Bub3 is crucial for correction of attachment errors. Depletion of Bub3 results in reduced levels of kinetochore-localized Ipl1 and concomitant massive chromosome missegregation caused by incorrect chromosome–spindle attachments. Depletion of Bub3 also results in shorter metaphase I and metaphase II due to premature localization of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) to kinetochores, which antagonizes Ipl1-mediated phosphorylation. We propose a new role for the Bub1–Bub3 pathway in maintaining the balance between kinetochore localization of Ipl1 and PP1, a balance that is essential for accurate meiotic chromosome segregation and timely anaphase onset.


2001 ◽  
Vol 153 (6) ◽  
pp. 1209-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Oegema ◽  
Arshad Desai ◽  
Sonja Rybina ◽  
Matthew Kirkham ◽  
Anthony A. Hyman

In all eukaryotes, segregation of mitotic chromosomes requires their interaction with spindle microtubules. To dissect this interaction, we use live and fixed assays in the one-cell stage Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. We compare the consequences of depleting homologues of the centromeric histone CENP-A, the kinetochore structural component CENP-C, and the chromosomal passenger protein INCENP. Depletion of either CeCENP-A or CeCENP-C results in an identical “kinetochore null” phenotype, characterized by complete failure of mitotic chromosome segregation as well as failure to recruit other kinetochore components and to assemble a mechanically stable spindle. The similarity of their depletion phenotypes, combined with a requirement for CeCENP-A to localize CeCENP-C but not vice versa, suggest that a key step in kinetochore assembly is the recruitment of CENP-C by CENP-A–containing chromatin. Parallel analysis of CeINCENP-depleted embryos revealed mitotic chromosome segregation defects different from those observed in the absence of CeCENP-A/C. Defects are observed before and during anaphase, but the chromatin separates into two equivalently sized masses. Mechanically stable spindles assemble that show defects later in anaphase and telophase. Furthermore, kinetochore assembly and the recruitment of CeINCENP to chromosomes are independent. These results suggest distinct roles for the kinetochore and the chromosomal passengers in mitotic chromosome segregation.


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