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1
Bringmann, Henrik. "Mechanical and genetic separation of aster- and midzone-positioned cytokinesis." Biochemical Society Transactions 36, no. 3 (May 21, 2008): 381–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1042/bst0360381.
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The mitotic spindle positions the cytokinesis furrow. The cytokinesis furrow then forms and ingresses at the site of the mitotic spindle, between the spindle poles. Two populations of spindle microtubules are implicated in cytokinesis furrow positioning: radial microtubule arrays called asters and bundled non-kinetochore microtubules called the spindle midzone. Here I will discuss our recent results that provided examples of how aster-positioned and midzone-positioned cytokinesis can be mechanically and genetically separated. These experiments illustrate how asters and midzone contribute to cytokinesis. ASS (asymmetric spindle severing) is a mechanical way to spatially separate the aster and midzone signals. In Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, asters and midzone provide two consecutive signals that position the cytokinesis furrow. The first signal is positioned midway between the microtubule asters; the second signal is positioned over the spindle midzone. Aster and midzone contribution can also be genetically separated. Mutants in spd-1 have no detectable midzone and are defective in midzone-positioned but not aster-positioned cytokinesis. Disruption of the function of LET-99 and the heterotrimeric G-proteins GOA-1/GPA-16 and their regulator GPR-1/2 causes defects in aster-positioned cytokinesis but not in midzone-positioned cytokinesis. In order to understand aster-positioned cytokinesis we have to understand how microtubule asters spatially control the activity of LET-99, GPR-1/2 and GOA-1/GPA-16 and how the activity of these G-protein pathway components control the assembly of a contractile ring.
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Sider, J. R., C. A. Mandato, K. L. Weber, A. J. Zandy, D. Beach, R. J. Finst, J. Skoble, and W. M. Bement. "Direct observation of microtubule-f-actin interaction in cell free lysates." Journal of Cell Science 112, no. 12 (June 15, 1999): 1947–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.112.12.1947.
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Coordinated interplay of the microtubule and actin cytoskeletons has long been known to be crucial for many cellular processes including cell migration and cytokinesis. However, interactions between these two systems have been difficult to document by conventional approaches, for a variety of technical reasons. Here the distribution of f-actin and microtubules were analyzed in the absence of fixation using Xenopus egg extracts as an in vitro source of microtubules and f-actin, demembranated Xenopus sperm to nucleate microtubule asters, fluorescent phalloidin as a probe for f-actin, and fluorescent tubulin as a probe for microtubules. F-actin consistently colocalized in a lengthwise manner with microtubules of asters subjected to extensive washing in flow chambers. F-actin-microtubule association was heterogenous within a given aster, such that f-actin is most abundant toward the distal (plus) ends of microtubules, and microtubules heavily labeled with f-actin are found in close proximity to microtubules devoid of f-actin. However, this distribution changed over time, in that 5 minute asters had more f-actin in their interiors than did 15 minute asters. Microtubule association with f-actin was correlated with microtubule bending and kinking, while elimination of f-actin resulted in straighter microtubules, indicating that the in vitro interaction between f-actin and microtubules is functionally significant. F-actin was also found to associate in a lengthwise fashion with microtubules in asters centrifuged through 30% sucrose, and microtubules alone (i.e. microtubules not seeded from demembranated sperm) centrifuged through sucrose, indicating that the association cannot be explained by flow-induced trapping and alignment of f-actin by aster microtubules. Further, cosedimentation analysis revealed that microtubule-f-actin association could be reconstituted from microtubules assembled from purified brain tubulin and f-actin assembled from purified muscle actin in the presence, but not the absence, of Xenopus oocyte microtubule binding proteins. The results provide direct evidence for an association between microtubules and f-actin in vitro, indicate that this interaction is mediated by one or more microtubule binding proteins, and suggest that this interaction may be responsible for the mutual regulation of the microtubule and actomyosin cytoskeletons observed in vivo.
3
Tse, Yu Chung, Alisa Piekny, and Michael Glotzer. "Anillin promotes astral microtubule-directed cortical myosin polarization." Molecular Biology of the Cell 22, no. 17 (September 2011): 3165–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e11-05-0399.
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Assembly of a cytokinetic contractile ring is a form of cell polarization in which the equatorial cell cortex becomes differentiated from the polar regions. Microtubules direct cytokinetic polarization via the central spindle and astral microtubules. The mechanism of central spindle–directed furrow formation is reasonably well understood, but the aster-directed pathway is not. In aster-directed furrowing, cytoskeletal factors accumulate to high levels at sites distal to the asters and at reduced levels at cortical sites near the asters. In this paper, we demonstrate that the cytoskeletal organizing protein anillin (ANI-1) promotes the formation of an aster-directed furrow in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. Microtubule-directed nonmuscle myosin II polarization is aberrant in embryos depleted of ANI-1. In contrast, microtubule-directed polarized ANI-1 localization is largely unaffected by myosin II depletion. Consistent with a role in the induction of cortical asymmetry, ANI-1 also contributes to the polarization of arrested oocytes. Anillin has an evolutionarily conserved capacity to associate with microtubules, possibly providing an inhibitory mechanism to promote polarization of the cell cortex.
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Schroeder, T. E., and D. E. Battaglia. ""Spiral asters" and cytoplasmic rotation in sea urchin eggs: induction in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus eggs by elevated temperature." Journal of Cell Biology 100, no. 4 (April 1, 1985): 1056–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.100.4.1056.
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"Spiral asters" composed of swirls of subcortical microtubules were recently described in fertilized eggs of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. In our study, these structures did not occur at culture temperatures below 16 degrees C. When the culture temperature was elevated, however, "spiral asters" routinely appeared during a susceptible period before mitotic prophase when the sperm aster-diaster normally exists. A massive and protracted rotation of the cytoplasm (excluding an immobile cortex and perinuclear region) began within 1 min of exposure to elevated temperature. Fibrils of the "spiral aster" could be seen within this rotating mass even by bright-field microscopy. The identity of microtubules in these structures was confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. A mechanistic association between "spiral aster" formation and cytoplasmic rotation was indicated by the simultaneous inhibitory effects of microtubule and dynein poisons. Inhibitors of microfilaments, however, had no effect. We infer that elevated temperature induces unique changes in the microtubules of the pre-prophase sperm aster-diaster, resulting in cytoplasmic rotation and the spiral configuration of microtubules. Comparative cytological evidence supports the idea that "spiral asters" do not normally occur in fertilized sea urchin eggs. Biogeographic evidence for S. purpuratus indicates that fertilization and development naturally occur below 15 degrees C, hence "spiral asters" in eggs of this species should be regarded as abnormalities induced in the laboratory by unnaturally elevated temperatures.
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Kotani, Tomoya, and Masakane Yamashita. "Overexpression of truncated γ-tubulins disrupts mitotic aster formation in Xenopus oocyte extracts." Biochemical Journal 389, no. 3 (July 26, 2005): 611–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1042/bj20050243.
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Mechanisms of spindle pole formation rely on minus-end-directed motor proteins. γ-Tubulin is present at the centre of poles, but its function during pole formation is completely unknown. To address the role of γ-tubulin in spindle pole formation, we overexpressed GFP (green fluorescent protein)-fused γ-tubulin (γ-Tu-GFP) in Xenopus oocytes and produced self-assembled mitotic asters in the oocyte extracts. γ-Tu-GFP associated with endogenous α-, β- and γ-tubulin, suggesting that it acts in the same manner as that of endogenous γ-tubulin. During the process of aster formation, γ-Tu-GFP aggregated as dots on microtubules, and then the dots were translocated to the centre of the aster along microtubules in a manner dependent on cytoplasmic dynein activity. Inhibition of the function of γ-tubulin by an anti-γ-tubulin antibody resulted in failure of microtubule organization into asters. This defect was restored by overexpression of γ-Tu-GFP, confirming the necessity of γ-tubulin in microtubule recruitment for aster formation. We also examined the effects of truncated γ-tubulin mutants, which are difficult to solubly express in other systems, on aster formation. The middle part of γ-tubulin caused abnormal organization of microtubules in which minus ends of microtubules were not tethered, but dispersed. An N-terminus-deleted mutant prevented recruitment of microtubules into asters, similar to the effect of the anti-γ-tubulin antibody. The results indicate possible roles of γ-tubulin in spindle pole formation and show that the system developed in the present study could be useful for analysing roles of many proteins that are difficult to solubly express.
6
Nguyen, P. A., C. M. Field, and T. J. Mitchison. "Prc1E and Kif4A control microtubule organization within and between large Xenopus egg asters." Molecular Biology of the Cell 29, no. 3 (February 2018): 304–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e17-09-0540.
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Prc1E and Kif4A prune out anti-parallel microtubules in the huge asters that position cleavage furrows in Xenopus eggs. Within asters, this promotes radial order in the face of the randomizing effect of nucleation away from centrosomes. At boundaries between asters, it blocks growth of a microtubule from one aster into its neighbor.
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Schroeder, M. M., and D. L. Gard. "Organization and regulation of cortical microtubules during the first cell cycle of Xenopus eggs." Development 114, no. 3 (March 1, 1992): 699–709. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.114.3.699.
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Anti-tubulin antibodies and confocal immunofluorescence microscopy were used to examine the organization and regulation of cytoplasmic and cortical microtubules during the first cell cycle of fertilized Xenopus eggs. Appearance of microtubules in the egg cortex temporally coincided with the outgrowth of the sperm aster. Microtubules of the sperm aster first reached the animal cortex at 0.25, (times normalized to first cleavage), forming a radially organized array of cortical microtubules. A disordered network of microtubules was apparent in the vegetal cortex as early as 0.35. Cortical microtubule networks of both animal and vegetal hemispheres were reorganized at times corresponding to the cortical rotation responsible for specification of the dorsal-ventral (D-V) axis. Optical sections suggest that the cortical microtubules are continuous with the microtubules of the sperm aster in fertilized eggs, or an extensive activation aster in activated eggs. Neither assembly and organization, nor disassembly of the cortical microtubules coincided with MPF activation during mitosis. However, cycloheximide or 6-dimethylaminopurine, which arrest fertilized eggs at interphase, blocked cortical microtubule disassembly. Injection of p13, a protein that specifically inhibits MPF activation, delayed or inhibited cortical microtubule breakdown. In contrast, eggs injected with cyc delta 90, a truncated cyclin that arrest eggs in M-phase, showed normal microtubule disassembly. Finally, injection of partially purified MPF into cycloheximide-arrested eggs induced cortical microtubule breakdown. These results suggest that, despite a lack of temporal coincidence, breakdown of the cortical microtubules is dependent on the activation of MPF.
8
Dogterom, M., M. A. Félix, C. C. Guet, and S. Leibler. "Influence of M-phase chromatin on the anisotropy of microtubule asters." Journal of Cell Biology 133, no. 1 (April 1, 1996): 125–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.133.1.125.
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In many eukaryotic cells going through M-phase, a bipolar spindle is formed by microtubules nucleated from centrosomes. These microtubules, in addition to being "captured" by kinetochores, may be stabilized by chromatin in two different ways: short-range stabilization effects may affect microtubules in close contact with the chromatin, while long-range stabilization effects may "guide" microtubule growth towards the chromatin (e.g., by introducing a diffusive gradient of an enzymatic activity that affects microtubule assembly). Here, we use both meiotic and mitotic extracts from Xenopus laevis eggs to study microtubule aster formation and microtubule dynamics in the presence of chromatin. In "low-speed" meiotic extracts, in the presence of salmon sperm chromatin, we find that short-range stabilization effects lead to a strong anisotropy of the microtubule asters. Analysis of the dynamic parameters of microtubule growth show that this anisotropy arises from a decrease in the catastrophe frequency, an increase in the rescue frequency and a decrease in the growth velocity. In this system we also find evidence for long-range "guidance" effects, which lead to a weak anisotropy of the asters. Statistically relevant results on these long-range effects are obtained in "high-speed" mitotic extracts in the presence of artificially constructed chromatin stripes. We find that aster anisotropy is biased in the direction of the chromatin and that the catastrophe frequency is reduced in its vicinity. In this system we also find a surprising dependence of the catastrophe and the rescue frequencies on the length of microtubules nucleated from centrosomes: the catastrophe frequency increase and the rescue frequency decreases with microtubule length.
9
Steffen, W., H. Fuge, R. Dietz, M. Bastmeyer, and G. Müller. "Aster-free spindle poles in insect spermatocytes: evidence for chromosome-induced spindle formation?" Journal of Cell Biology 102, no. 5 (May 1, 1986): 1679–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.102.5.1679.
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Tipulid spermatocytes form normally functioning bipolar spindles after one of the centrosomes is experimentally dislocated from the nucleus in late diakinesis (Dietz, R., 1959, Z. Naturforsch., 14b:749-752; Dietz, R., 1963, Zool. Anz. Suppl., 23:131-138; Dietz, R., 1966, Heredity, 19:161-166). The possibility that dissociated pericentriolar material (PCM) is nevertheless responsible for the formation of the spindle in these cells cannot be ruled out based on live observation. In studying serial sections of complete cells and of lysed cells, it was found that centrosome-free spindle poles in the crane fly show neither pericentriolar-like material nor aster microtubules, whereas the displaced centrosomes appear complete, i.e., consist of a centriole pair, aster microtubules, and PCM. Exposure to a lysis buffer containing tubulin resulted in an increase of centrosomal asters due to aster microtubule polymerization. Aster-free spindle poles did not show any reaction, also indicating the absence of PCM at these poles. The results favor the hypothesis of chromosome-induced spindle pole formation at the onset of prometaphase and the dispensability of PCM in Pales.
10
Verde, F., J. M. Berrez, C. Antony, and E. Karsenti. "Taxol-induced microtubule asters in mitotic extracts of Xenopus eggs: requirement for phosphorylated factors and cytoplasmic dynein." Journal of Cell Biology 112, no. 6 (March 15, 1991): 1177–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.112.6.1177.
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Taxol, a microtubule stabilizing drug, induces the formation of numerous microtubule asters in the cytoplasm of mitotic cells (De Brabander, M., G. Geuens, R. Nuydens, R. Willebrords, J. DeMey. 1981. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 78:5608-5612). The center of these asters share with spindle poles some characteristics such as the presence of centrosomal material and calmodulin. We have recently reproduced the assembly of taxol asters in a cell-free system (Buendia, B., C. Antony, F. Verde, M. Bornens, and E. Karsenti. 1990. J. Cell Sci. 97:259-271) using extracts of Xenopus eggs. In this paper, we show that taxol aster assembly requires phosphorylation, and that they do not grow from preformed centers, but rather by a reorganization of microtubules first crosslinked into bundles. This process seems to involve sliding of microtubules along each other and we show that cytoplasmic dynein is required for taxol aster assembly. This result provides a possible functional basis to the recent findings, that dynein is present in the spindle and enriched near spindle poles (Pfarr, C. M., M. Cove, P. M. Grissom, T. S. Hays, M. E. Porter, and J. R. McIntosh. 1990. Nature (Lond.). 345:263-265; Steuer, E. R., L. Wordeman, T. A. Schroer, and M. P. Sheetz. 1990. Nature (Lond.). 345:266-268).
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Zhang, C., M. Hughes, and P. R. Clarke. "Ran-GTP stabilises microtubule asters and inhibits nuclear assembly in Xenopus egg extracts." Journal of Cell Science 112, no. 14 (July 15, 1999): 2453–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.112.14.2453.
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Ran is an abundant GTPase of the Ras superfamily that is highly conserved in eukaryotes. In interphase cells, Ran is mainly nuclear and thought to be predominantly GTP-bound, but it is also present in the cytoplasm, probably GDP-bound. This asymmetric distribution plays an important role in directing nucleocytoplasmic transport. Ran has also been implicated in cell cycle control, including the transition from mitosis to interphase when the compartmentalisation of the nucleus is established. Here, we have examined the role of Ran in this transition using a cell-free system of Xenopus egg extracts supplemented with sperm heads that provides a model for microtubule aster formation and post-M phase nuclear assembly. Ran-GTP, added as wild-type protein, a mutant defective in GTPase activity (Q69L), or generated by addition of the specific nucleotide exchange factor RCC1, stabilises large microtubule asters nucleated at the sperm centrosome, prevents the redistribution of NuMA from the aster to the nucleus and blocks chromatin decondensation. In contrast, Ran GDP does not stabilise microtubules or inhibit nuclear assembly. RanT24N and RanBP1, which oppose the generation of Ran-GTP by RCC1, arrest nuclear growth after disappearance of the aster. Ran associates with microtubule asters in egg extracts and with mitotic spindles in somatic Xenopus cells, suggesting that it may affect microtubule stability directly. These results show that Ran has a novel function in the control of microtubule stability that is clearly distinct from nucleocytoplasmic transport. The Ran GDP/GTP switch may play a role in co-ordinating changes in the structure of microtubules and the assembly of the nucleus associated with the transition from mitosis to interphase.
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Félix, MA, C. Antony, M. Wright, and B. Maro. "Centrosome assembly in vitro: role of gamma-tubulin recruitment in Xenopus sperm aster formation." Journal of Cell Biology 124, no. 1 (January 1, 1994): 19–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.124.1.19.
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Centrioles organize microtubules in two ways: either microtubules elongate from the centriole cylinder itself, forming a flagellum or a cilium ("template elongation"), or pericentriolar material assembles and nucleates a microtubule aster ("astral nucleation"). During spermatogenesis in most species, a motile flagellum elongates from one of the sperm centrioles, whereas after fertilization a large aster of microtubules forms around the sperm centrioles in the egg cytoplasm. Using Xenopus egg extracts we have developed an in vitro system to study this change in microtubule-organizing activity. An aster of microtubules forms around the centrioles of permeabilized frog sperm in egg extracts, but not in pure tubulin. However, when the sperm heads are incubated in the egg extract in the presence of nocodazole, they are able to nucleate a microtubule aster after isolation and incubation with pure calf brain tubulin. This provides a two-step assay that distinguishes between centrosome assembly and subsequent microtubule nucleation. We have studied several centrosomal antigens during centrosome assembly. The CTR2611 antigen is present in the sperm head in the peri-centriolar region. gamma-tubulin and certain phosphorylated epitopes appear in the centrosome only after incubation in the egg extract. gamma-tubulin is recruited from the egg extract and associated with electron-dense patches dispersed in a wide area around the centrioles. Immunodepletion of gamma-tubulin and associated molecules from the egg extract before sperm head incubation prevents the change in microtubule-organizing activity of the sperm heads. This suggests that gamma-tubulin and/or associated molecules play a key role in centrosome formation and activity.
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Luetjens, Craig Marc, and Adriaan W. C. Dorresteijn. "Dynamic changes of the microtubule system corresponding to the unequal and spiral cleavage modes in the embryo of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha (Mollusca, Bivalvia)." Zygote 6, no. 3 (August 1998): 239–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0967199498000185.
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Unequal cleavage requires a highly organised cytoskeleton. We investigated the localisation of both tubulins and microtubular arrays in Dreissena eggs during and after fertilisation using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Freshly spawned eggs are arrested in metaphase I. A maternal pool of γ-tubulin is found mainly in the centre of the asters of the meiotic spindle. The paternal pool of γ-tubulin, present in the fertilising sperm, could not be traced within the egg, but a microtubule-organising centre forms near the male pronucleus at anaphase II. Male and female pronuclei grow as they migrate in the wake of their aster and rendezvous. First cleavage is unequal and starts without pronuclear fusion. At metaphase the two equal-sized asters span the entire egg in a symmetrical arrangement. At late metaphase the spindle shifts along its longitudinal axis into an eccentric position and the peripheral aster takes on an umbrella-like appearance, whereas the central aster remains spherical. The cleavage furrow becomes determined in the circumferential overlap of the asters. The inequality at second cleavage, however, is due to the unequal size of the asters. The third cleavage spindle also has asymmetrical asters and spindle shift was only observed in the D-cell. The spiral character is a result of an asymmetrical organisation of the larger, vegetal aster. Our results show that the arrangement of the γ-tubulin clusters and of microtubules changes and develops during early development of Dreissena in a way that can explain the axis-generating asymmetries in cell pattern and the spiral sense of cleavage. The major cytological characters expected to direct pattern formation in this phase of development are: size, position, and symmetry or asymmetry of both spindle and asters.
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Mountain, Vicki, Calvin Simerly, Louisa Howard, Asako Ando, Gerald Schatten, and Duane A. Compton. "The Kinesin-Related Protein, Hset, Opposes the Activity of Eg5 and Cross-Links Microtubules in the Mammalian Mitotic Spindle." Journal of Cell Biology 147, no. 2 (October 18, 1999): 351–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.147.2.351.
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We have prepared antibodies specific for HSET, the human homologue of the KAR3 family of minus end-directed motors. Immuno-EM with these antibodies indicates that HSET frequently localizes between microtubules within the mammalian metaphase spindle consistent with a microtubule cross-linking function. Microinjection experiments show that HSET activity is essential for meiotic spindle organization in murine oocytes and taxol-induced aster assembly in cultured cells. However, inhibition of HSET did not affect mitotic spindle architecture or function in cultured cells, indicating that centrosomes mask the role of HSET during mitosis. We also show that (acentrosomal) microtubule asters fail to assemble in vitro without HSET activity, but simultaneous inhibition of HSET and Eg5, a plus end-directed motor, redresses the balance of forces acting on microtubules and restores aster organization. In vivo, centrosomes fail to separate and monopolar spindles assemble without Eg5 activity. Simultaneous inhibition of HSET and Eg5 restores centrosome separation and, in some cases, bipolar spindle formation. Thus, through microtubule cross-linking and oppositely oriented motor activity, HSET and Eg5 participate in spindle assembly and promote spindle bipolarity, although the activity of HSET is not essential for spindle assembly and function in cultured cells because of centrosomes.
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Gaglio, T., A. Saredi, and D. A. Compton. "NuMA is required for the organization of microtubules into aster-like mitotic arrays." Journal of Cell Biology 131, no. 3 (November 1, 1995): 693–708. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.131.3.693.
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NuMA (Nuclear protein that associates with the Mitotic Apparatus) is a 235-kD intranuclear protein that accumulates at the pericentrosomal region of the mitotic spindle in vertebrate cells. To determine if NuMA plays an active role in organizing the microtubules at the polar region of the mitotic spindle, we have developed a cell free system for the assembly of mitotic asters derived from synchronized cultured cells. Mitotic asters assembled in this extract are composed of microtubules arranged in a radial array that contain NuMA concentrated at the central core. The organization of microtubules into asters in this cell free system is dependent on NuMA because immunodepletion of NuMA from the extract results in randomly dispersed microtubules instead of organized mitotic asters, and addition of the purified recombinant NuMA protein to the NuMA-depleted extract fully reconstitutes the organization of the microtubules into mitotic asters. Furthermore, we show that NuMA is phosphorylated upon mitotic aster assembly and that NuMA is only required in the late stages of aster assembly in this cell free system consistent with the temporal accumulation of NuMA at the polar ends of the mitotic spindle in vivo. These results, in combination with the phenotype observed in vivo after the prevention of NuMA from targeting onto the mitotic spindle by antibody microinjection, suggest that NuMA plays a functional role in the organization of the microtubules of the mitotic spindle.
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Houliston, E., and R. P. Elinson. "Patterns of microtubule polymerization relating to cortical rotation in Xenopus laevis eggs." Development 112, no. 1 (May 1, 1991): 107–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.112.1.107.
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Following fertilization, the Xenopus egg cortex rotates relative to the cytoplasm by 30 degrees about a horizontal axis. The direction of rotation, and as a result the orientation of the embryonic body axes, is normally specified by the position of sperm entry. The mechanism of rotation appears to involve an array of aligned microtubules in the vegetal cortex (Elinson and Rowning, 1988, Devl Biol. 128, 185–197). We performed anti-tubulin immunofluorescence on sections to follow the formation of this array. Microtubules disappear rapidly from the egg following fertilization, and reappear first in the sperm aster. Surprisingly, astral microtubules then extend radially through both the animal and vegetal cytoplasm. The cortical array arises as they reach the vegetal cell surface. The eccentric position of the sperm aster gives asymmetry to the formation of the array and may explain its alignment since microtubules reaching the cortex tend to bend away from the sperm entry side. The radial polymerization of cytoplasmic microtubules is not dependent on the sperm aster or on the female pronucleus: similar but more symmetric patterns arise in artificially activated and enucleate eggs, slightly later than in fertilized eggs. These observations suggest that the cortical microtubule array forms as a result of asymmetric microtubule growth outward from cytoplasm to cortex and, since cortical and cytoplasmic microtubules remain connected throughout the period of the rotation, that the microtubules of the array rotate with the cytoplasm.
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Ault, J. G., A. J. DeMarco, E. D. Salmon, and C. L. Rieder. "Studies on the ejection properties of asters: astral microtubule turnover influences the oscillatory behavior and positioning of mono-oriented chromosomes." Journal of Cell Science 99, no. 4 (August 1, 1991): 701–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.99.4.701.
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The position of a mono-oriented chromosome changes as it oscillates to and from the pole to which it is attached. Such oscillatory behavior reveals that the net force on a mono-oriented chromosome is constantly changing. Fluctuations may occur in both the polewardly directed force acting at the kinetochore and the opposing outwardly directed force associated with the aster. We have examined the ejection properties of the aster—as well as the oscillatory behavior and positioning of mono-oriented chromosomes—in relation to astral microtubule turnover. We treated cells containing monopolar spindles with drugs that affect microtubule turnover, either by promoting the depletion of dynamically unstable astral microtubules (nocodazole and colcemid) or by augmenting their numbers and stability (taxol). Both types of drugs stopped the oscillatory behavior of mono-oriented chromosomes within seconds. The final position of the chromosomes depended on how microtubule turnover was affected. In the case of nocodazole and colcemid, non-kinetochore astral microtubules were depleted first and the kinetochore-to-pole distance shortened. In these cells chromosome fragments generated by laser microsurgery were no longer expelled from the center of the aster. By contrast, with taxol the number of non-kinetochore microtubules increased and the astral ejection force became stronger as shown by the finding that the chromosomes moved away from the pole to the periphery of the monaster. Moreover, arms severed from chromosomes at the periphery of the taxol monaster failed to move further away from the aster's center. From these observations we conclude that the oscillatory movements and changing position of a mono-oriented chromosome relative to the pole are mediated by changes in the number of astral microtubules. The dynamic instability of astral microtubules that leads to a rapid turnover may contribute to the astral ejection force by allowing the continual growth of microtubules out from the aster. Growing astral microtubules may exert a pushing force that their rigidity maintains until their depolymerization.
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Waterman-Storer, Clare, Devin Y. Duey, Kari L. Weber, John Keech, Richard E. Cheney, E. D. Salmon, and William M. Bement. "Microtubules Remodel Actomyosin Networks in Xenopus Egg Extracts via Two Mechanisms of F-Actin Transport." Journal of Cell Biology 150, no. 2 (July 24, 2000): 361–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.150.2.361.
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Interactions between microtubules and filamentous actin (F-actin) are crucial for many cellular processes, including cell locomotion and cytokinesis, but are poorly understood. To define the basic principles governing microtubule/F-actin interactions, we used dual-wavelength digital fluorescence and fluorescent speckle microscopy to analyze microtubules and F-actin labeled with spectrally distinct fluorophores in interphase Xenopus egg extracts. In the absence of microtubules, networks of F-actin bundles zippered together or exhibited serpentine gliding along the coverslip. When microtubules were nucleated from Xenopus sperm centrosomes, they were released and translocated away from the aster center. In the presence of microtubules, F-actin exhibited two distinct, microtubule-dependent motilities: rapid (∼250–300 nm/s) jerking and slow (∼50 nm/s), straight gliding. Microtubules remodeled the F-actin network, as F-actin jerking caused centrifugal clearing of F-actin from around aster centers. F-actin jerking occurred when F-actin bound to motile microtubules powered by cytoplasmic dynein. F-actin straight gliding occurred when F-actin bundles translocated along the microtubule lattice. These interactions required Xenopus cytosolic factors. Localization of myosin-II to F-actin suggested it may power F-actin zippering, while localization of myosin-V on microtubules suggested it could mediate interactions between microtubules and F-actin. We examine current models for cytokinesis and cell motility in light of these findings.
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Maiato, Helder, Paula Sampaio, Catarina L. Lemos, John Findlay, Mar Carmena, William C. Earnshaw, and Claudio E. Sunkel. "MAST/Orbit has a role in microtubule–kinetochore attachment and is essential for chromosome alignment and maintenance of spindle bipolarity." Journal of Cell Biology 157, no. 5 (May 28, 2002): 749–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200201101.
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Multiple asters (MAST)/Orbit is a member of a new family of nonmotor microtubule-associated proteins that has been previously shown to be required for the organization of the mitotic spindle. Here we provide evidence that MAST/Orbit is required for functional kinetochore attachment, chromosome congression, and the maintenance of spindle bipolarity. In vivo analysis of Drosophila mast mutant embryos undergoing early mitotic divisions revealed that chromosomes are unable to reach a stable metaphase alignment and that bipolar spindles collapse as centrosomes move progressively closer toward the cell center and eventually organize into a monopolar configuration. Similarly, soon after depletion of MAST/Orbit in Drosophila S2 cells by double-stranded RNA interference, cells are unable to form a metaphase plate and instead assemble monopolar spindles with chromosomes localized close to the center of the aster. In these cells, kinetochores either fail to achieve end-on attachment or are associated with short microtubules. Remarkably, when microtubule dynamics is suppressed in MAST-depleted cells, chromosomes localize at the periphery of the monopolar aster associated with the plus ends of well-defined microtubule bundles. Furthermore, in these cells, dynein and ZW10 accumulate at kinetochores and fail to transfer to microtubules. However, loss of MAST/Orbit does not affect the kinetochore localization of D-CLIP-190. Together, these results strongly support the conclusion that MAST/Orbit is required for microtubules to form functional attachments to kinetochores and to maintain spindle bipolarity.
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Euteneuer, U., and M. Schliwa. "Evidence for an involvement of actin in the positioning and motility of centrosomes." Journal of Cell Biology 101, no. 1 (July 1, 1985): 96–103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.101.1.96.
Full textAbstract:
Cultured human polymorphonuclear leukocytes exposed to the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) spread on the substratum and undergo centrosome splitting. The two centrioles may separate by a distance of several micrometers, each being surrounded by an aster of microtubules. Here we show that the centriole/aster complexes are in constant, rapid motion through the cytoplasm, carrying with them some of the cytoplasmic granules while pushing aside others, or deforming and displacing the nucleus. An analysis of this unique motility phenomenon was undertaken. We show that intact microtubules are required for TPA-induced centrosome splitting and aster motility, but not for cell spreading. More importantly, disruption of the actin network inhibits both centrosome splitting and cell spreading, and even reverses splitting (induces convergence and fusion of asters) in polymorphonuclear leukocytes pretreated with TPA alone. These observations indicate the existence of a dynamic relationship between microtubules and actin networks and provide evidence for a role of actin in determining the position of the centrosome by way of interaction with the microtubules radiating from it.
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Sallé, Jérémy, Jing Xie, Dmitry Ershov, Milan Lacassin, Serge Dmitrieff, and Nicolas Minc. "Asymmetric division through a reduction of microtubule centering forces." Journal of Cell Biology 218, no. 3 (December 18, 2018): 771–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201807102.
Full textAbstract:
Asymmetric divisions are essential for the generation of cell fate and size diversity. They implicate cortical domains where minus end–directed motors, such as dynein, are activated to pull on microtubules to decenter asters attached to centrosomes, nuclei, or spindles. In asymmetrically dividing cells, aster decentration typically follows a centering phase, suggesting a time-dependent regulation in the competition between microtubule centering and decentering forces. Using symmetrically dividing sea urchin zygotes, we generated cortical domains of magnetic particles that spontaneously cluster endogenous dynein activity. These domains efficiently attract asters and nuclei, yielding marked asymmetric divisions. Remarkably, aster decentration only occurred after asters had first reached the cell center. Using intracellular force measurement and models, we demonstrate that this time-regulated imbalance results from a global reduction of centering forces rather than a local maturation of dynein activity at the domain. Those findings define a novel paradigm for the regulation of division asymmetry.
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Meaders, Johnathan L., and David R. Burgess. "Microtubule-Based Mechanisms of Pronuclear Positioning." Cells 9, no. 2 (February 23, 2020): 505. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells9020505.
Full textAbstract:
The zygote is defined as a diploid cell resulting from the fusion of two haploid gametes. Union of haploid male and female pronuclei in many animals occurs through rearrangements of the microtubule cytoskeleton into a radial array of microtubules known as the sperm aster. The sperm aster nucleates from paternally-derived centrioles attached to the male pronucleus after fertilization. Nematode, echinoderm, and amphibian eggs have proven as invaluable models to investigate the biophysical principles for how the sperm aster unites male and female pronuclei with precise spatial and temporal regulation. In this review, we compare these model organisms, discussing the dynamics of sperm aster formation and the different force generating mechanism for sperm aster and pronuclear migration. Finally, we provide new mechanistic insights for how sperm aster growth may influence sperm aster positioning.
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Cao, Tracy T., Wakam Chang, Sarah E. Masters, and Mark S. Mooseker. "Myosin-Va Binds to and Mechanochemically Couples Microtubules to Actin Filaments." Molecular Biology of the Cell 15, no. 1 (January 2004): 151–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e03-07-0504.
Full textAbstract:
Myosin-Va was identified as a microtubule binding protein by cosedimentation analysis in the presence of microtubules. Native myosin-Va purified from chick brain, as well as the expressed globular tail domain of this myosin, but not head domain bound to microtubule-associated protein-free microtubules. Binding of myosin-Va to microtubules was saturable and of moderately high affinity (∼1:24 Myosin-Va:tubulin; Kd = 70 nM). Myosin-Va may bind to microtubules via its tail domain because microtubule-bound myosin-Va retained the ability to bind actin filaments resulting in the formation of cross-linked gels of microtubules and actin, as assessed by fluorescence and electron microscopy. In low Ca2+, ATP addition induced dissolution of these gels, but not release of myosin-Va from MTs. However, in 10 μM Ca2+, ATP addition resulted in the contraction of the gels into aster-like arrays. These results demonstrate that myosin-Va is a microtubule binding protein that cross-links and mechanochemically couples microtubules to actin filaments.
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Harris, P. J., and B. P. Rubin. "Transition from mitosis to interphase in sea urchin first division: immunofluorescence studies of tubulin distribution in methacrylate sections." Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry 35, no. 3 (March 1987): 343–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/35.3.3546483.
Full textAbstract:
Previous immunofluorescence studies of microtubule distribution in fertilized sea urchin eggs have suffered from poor resolution caused by cell thickness, unavoidable artifacts resulting from excessive flattening, or extraction by detergents of membranes and other lipid-containing structures that may be of interest in relation to the microtubules. To avoid these difficulties, we have developed a fixation and embedding protocol based on buffered paraformaldehyde fixation and butyl-methyl methacrylate embedment, which allows immunofluorescence staining of 0.5-1 micron sections. Polymerization artifacts are reduced by polymerizing the methacrylate at a relatively low temperature (40-45 degrees C) and by flat embedding for more uniform polymerization. Using this method, we have examined mitotic stages in the first cleavage cycle of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. We provide evidence that the interphase microtubules that appear after first division are not derived from the mitotic asters but are new structures growing from organizing centers within the degenerating mitotic asters. During the transition from mitosis to interphase, there is a temporary overlap of old and new microtubules to form a very large composite aster at telophase before the old structure finally disappears.
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Mangal, Sriyash, Jennifer Sacher, Taekyung Kim, Daniel Sampaio Osório, Fumio Motegi, Ana Xavier Carvalho, Karen Oegema, and Esther Zanin. "TPXL-1 activates Aurora A to clear contractile ring components from the polar cortex during cytokinesis." Journal of Cell Biology 217, no. 3 (January 8, 2018): 837–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201706021.
Full textAbstract:
During cytokinesis, a signal from the central spindle that forms between the separating anaphase chromosomes promotes the accumulation of contractile ring components at the cell equator, while a signal from the centrosomal microtubule asters inhibits accumulation of contractile ring components at the cell poles. However, the molecular identity of the inhibitory signal has remained unknown. To identify molecular components of the aster-based inhibitory signal, we developed a means to monitor the removal of contractile ring proteins from the polar cortex after anaphase onset. Using this assay, we show that polar clearing is an active process that requires activation of Aurora A kinase by TPXL-1. TPXL-1 concentrates on astral microtubules coincident with polar clearing in anaphase, and its ability to recruit Aurora A and activate its kinase activity are essential for clearing. In summary, our data identify Aurora A kinase as an aster-based inhibitory signal that restricts contractile ring components to the cell equator during cytokinesis.
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Palazzo, R. E., E. A. Vaisberg, D. G. Weiss, S. A. Kuznetsov, and W. Steffen. "Dynein is required for spindle assembly in cytoplasmic extracts of Spisula solidissima oocytes." Journal of Cell Science 112, no. 9 (May 1, 1999): 1291–302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.112.9.1291.
Full textAbstract:
Meiosis I spindle assembly is induced in lysate-extract mixtures prepared from clam (Spisula solidissima) oocytes. Unactivated lysate prepared from unactivated oocytes contain nuclei (germinal vesicles, GVs) which house condensed chromosomes. Treatment of unactivated lysate with clarified activated extract prepared from oocytes induced to complete meiosis by treatment with KCl induces GV breakdown (GVBD) and assembly of monopolar, bipolar, and multipolar aster-chromosome complexes. The process of in vitro meiosis I spindle assembly involves the assembly of microtubule asters and the association of these asters with the surfaces of the GVs, followed by GVBD and spindle assembly. Monoclonal antibody m74-1, known to react specifically with the N terminus of the intermediate chain of cytoplasmic dynein, recognizes Spisula oocyte dynein and inhibits in vitro meiosis I spindle assembly. Control antibody has no affect on spindle assembly. A similar inhibitory effect on spindle assembly was observed in the presence of orthovanadate, a known inhibitor of dynein ATPase activity. Neither m74-1 nor orthovanadate has any obvious affect on GVBD or aster formation. We propose that dynein function is required for the association of chromosomes with astral microtubules during in vitro meiosis I spindle assembly in these lysate-extract mixtures. However, we conclude that dynein function is not required for centrosome assembly and maturation or for centrosome-dependent aster formation.
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Horne, Melinda M., and Thomas M. Guadagno. "A requirement for MAP kinase in the assembly and maintenance of the mitotic spindle." Journal of Cell Biology 161, no. 6 (June 23, 2003): 1021–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200304144.
Full textAbstract:
Circumstantial evidence has suggested the possibility of microtubule-associated protein (MAP) kinase's involvement in spindle regulation. To test this directly, we asked whether MAP kinase was required for spindle assembly in Xenopus egg extracts. Either the inhibition or the depletion of endogenous p42 MAP kinase resulted in defective spindle structures resembling asters or half-spindles. Likewise, an increase in the length and polymerization of microtubules was measured in aster assays suggesting a role for MAP kinase in regulating microtubule dynamics. Consistent with this, treatment of extracts with either a specific MAP kinase kinase inhibitor or a MAP kinase phosphatase resulted in the rapid disassembly of bipolar spindles into large asters. Finally, we report that mitotic progression in the absence of MAP kinase signaling led to multiple spindle abnormalities in NIH 3T3 cells. We therefore propose that MAP kinase is a key regulator of the mitotic spindle.
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Chakravarty, Arijit, Louisa Howard, and Duane A. Compton. "A Mechanistic Model for the Organization of Microtubule Asters by Motor and Non-Motor Proteins in a Mammalian Mitotic Extract." Molecular Biology of the Cell 15, no. 5 (May 2004): 2116–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e03-08-0579.
Full textAbstract:
We used computer simulation to understand the functional relationships between motor (dynein, HSET, and Eg5) and non-motor (NuMA) proteins involved in microtubule aster organization. The simulation accurately predicted microtubule organization under all combinations of motor and non-motor proteins, provided that microtubule cross-links at minus-ends were dynamic, and dynein and HSET were restricted to cross-linking microtubules in parallel orientation only. A mechanistic model was derived from these data in which a combination of two aggregate properties, Net Minus-end–directed Force and microtubule Cross-linking Orientation Bias, determine microtubule organization. This model uses motor and non-motor proteins, accounts for motor antagonism, and predicts that alterations in microtubule Cross-linking Orientation Bias should compensate for imbalances in motor force during microtubule aster formation. We tested this prediction in the mammalian mitotic extract and, consistent with the model, found that increasing the contribution of microtubule cross-linking by NuMA compensated for the loss of Eg5 motor activity. Thus, this model proposes a precise mechanism of action of each noncentrosomal protein during microtubule aster organization and suggests that microtubule organization in spindles involves both motile forces from motors and static forces from non-motor cross-linking proteins.
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Nédélec, François. "Computer simulations reveal motor properties generating stable antiparallel microtubule interactions." Journal of Cell Biology 158, no. 6 (September 16, 2002): 1005–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200202051.
Full textAbstract:
An aster of microtubules is a set of flexible polar filaments with dynamic plus ends that irradiate from a common location at which the minus ends of the filaments are found. Processive soluble oligomeric motor complexes can bind simultaneously to two microtubules, and thus exert forces between two asters. Using computer simulations, I have explored systematically the possible steady-state regimes reached by two asters under the action of various kinds of oligomeric motors. As expected, motor complexes can induce the asters to fuse, for example when the complexes consist only of minus end–directed motors, or to fully separate, when the motors are plus end directed. More surprisingly, complexes made of two motors of opposite directionalities can also lead to antiparallel interactions between overlapping microtubules that are stable and sustained, like those seen in mitotic spindle structures. This suggests that such heterocomplexes could have a significant biological role, if they exist in the cell.
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Riparbelli, Maria Giovanna, Giuliano Callaini, David M. Glover, and Maria do Carmo Avides. "A requirement for the Abnormal Spindle protein to organise microtubules of the central spindle for cytokinesis inDrosophila." Journal of Cell Science 115, no. 5 (March 1, 2002): 913–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.115.5.913.
Full textAbstract:
Drosophila abnormal spindle (asp) mutants exhibit a mitotic metaphase checkpoint arrest with abnormal spindle poles, which reflects a requirement for Asp for the integrity of microtubule organising centres (MTOCs). In male meiosis, the absence of a strong spindle integrity checkpoint enables asp mutant cells to proceed through anaphase and telophase. However, the central spindle region is not correctly organised and cells frequently fail to complete cytokinesis. This contrasts with meiosis in wild-type males where at late anaphase a dense array of microtubules forms in the central spindle region that has Asp localised at its border. We speculate that Asp is associated with the minus ends of microtubules that have been released from the spindle poles to form the central spindle. A parallel situation arises in female meiosis where Asp not only associates with the minus ends of microtubules at the acentriolar poles but also with the central spindle pole body that forms between the two tandem spindles of meiosis II. Upon fertilisation, Asp is also recruited to the MTOC that nucleates the sperm aster. Asp is required for growth of the microtubules of the sperm aster,which in asp mutants remains diminutive and so prevents migration of the pronuclei.
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Gaglio, Tirso, Mary A. Dionne, and Duane A. Compton. "Mitotic Spindle Poles are Organized by Structural and Motor Proteins in Addition to Centrosomes." Journal of Cell Biology 138, no. 5 (September 8, 1997): 1055–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.138.5.1055.
Full textAbstract:
The focusing of microtubules into mitotic spindle poles in vertebrate somatic cells has been assumed to be the consequence of their nucleation from centrosomes. Contrary to this simple view, in this article we show that an antibody recognizing the light intermediate chain of cytoplasmic dynein (70.1) disrupts both the focused organization of microtubule minus ends and the localization of the nuclear mitotic apparatus protein at spindle poles when injected into cultured cells during metaphase, despite the presence of centrosomes. Examination of the effects of this dynein-specific antibody both in vitro using a cell-free system for mitotic aster assembly and in vivo after injection into cultured cells reveals that in addition to its direct effect on cytoplasmic dynein this antibody reduces the efficiency with which dynactin associates with microtubules, indicating that the antibody perturbs the cooperative binding of dynein and dynactin to microtubules during spindle/aster assembly. These results indicate that microtubule minus ends are focused into spindle poles in vertebrate somatic cells through a mechanism that involves contributions from both centrosomes and structural and microtubule motor proteins. Furthermore, these findings, together with the recent observation that cytoplasmic dynein is required for the formation and maintenance of acentrosomal spindle poles in extracts prepared from Xenopus eggs (Heald, R., R. Tournebize, T. Blank, R. Sandaltzopoulos, P. Becker, A. Hyman, and E. Karsenti. 1996. Nature (Lond.). 382: 420–425) demonstrate that there is a common mechanism for focusing free microtubule minus ends in both centrosomal and acentrosomal spindles. We discuss these observations in the context of a search-capture-focus model for spindle assembly.
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Gundersen, G. G., S. Khawaja, and J. C. Bulinski. "Postpolymerization detyrosination of alpha-tubulin: a mechanism for subcellular differentiation of microtubules." Journal of Cell Biology 105, no. 1 (July 1, 1987): 251–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.105.1.251.
Full textAbstract:
Tyrosinated (Tyr) and detyrosinated (Glu) alpha-tubulin, species interconverted by posttranslational modification, are largely segregated in separate populations of microtubules in interphase cultured cells. We sought to understand how distinct Tyr and Glu microtubules are generated in vivo, by examining time-dependent alterations in Tyr and Glu tubulin levels (by immunoblots probed with antibodies specific for each species) and distributions (by immunofluorescence) after microtubule regrowth and stabilization. When microtubules were allowed to regrow after complete depolymerization by microtubule antagonists, Glu microtubules reappeared with a delay of approximately 25 min after the complete array of Tyr microtubules had regrown. In these experiments, Tyr tubulin immunofluorescence first appeared as an aster of distinct microtubules, while Glu tubulin staining first appeared as a grainy pattern that was not altered by detergent extraction, suggesting that Glu microtubules were created by detyrosination of Tyr microtubules. Treatments with taxol, azide, or vinblastine, to stabilize polymeric tubulin, all resulted in time-dependent increases in polymeric Glu tubulin levels, further supporting the hypothesis of postpolymerization detyrosination. Analysis of monomer and polymer fractions during microtubule regrowth and in microtubule stabilization experiments were also consistent with postpolymerization detyrosination; in each case, Glu polymer levels increased in the absence of detectable Glu monomer. The low level of Glu monomer in untreated or nocodazole-treated cells (we estimate that Glu tubulin comprises less than 2% of the monomer pool) also suggested that Glu tubulin entering the monomer pool is efficiently retyrosinated. Taken together these results demonstrate that microtubules are polymerized from Tyr tubulin and are then rapidly converted to Glu microtubules. When Glu microtubules depolymerize, the resulting Glu monomer is retyrosinated. This cycle generates structurally, and perhaps functionally, distinct microtubules.
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Gaglio, T., A. Saredi, J. B. Bingham, M. J. Hasbani, S. R. Gill, T. A. Schroer, and D. A. Compton. "Opposing motor activities are required for the organization of the mammalian mitotic spindle pole." Journal of Cell Biology 135, no. 2 (October 15, 1996): 399–414. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.135.2.399.
Full textAbstract:
We use both in vitro and in vivo approaches to examine the roles of Eg5 (kinesin-related protein), cytoplasmic dynein, and dynactin in the organization of the microtubules and the localization of NuMA (Nu-clear protein that associates with the Mitotic Apparatus) at the polar ends of the mammalian mitotic spindle. Perturbation of the function of Eg5 through either immunodepletion from a cell free system for assembly of mitotic asters or antibody microinjection into cultured cells leads to organized astral microtubule arrays with expanded polar regions in which the minus ends of the microtubules emanate from a ring-like structure that contains NuMA. Conversely, perturbation of the function of cytoplasmic dynein or dynactin through either specific immunodepletition from the cell free system or expression of a dominant negative subunit of dynactin in cultured cells results in the complete lack of organization of microtubules and the failure to efficiently concentrate the NuMA protein despite its association with the microtubules. Simultaneous immunodepletion of these proteins from the cell free system for mitotic aster assembly indicates that the plus end-directed activity of Eg5 antagonizes the minus end-directed activity of cytoplasmic dynein and a minus end-directed activity associated with NuMA during the organization of the microtubules into a morphologic pole. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the unique organization of the minus ends of microtubules and the localization of NuMA at the polar ends of the mammalian mitotic spindle can be accomplished in a centrosome-independent manner by the opposing activities of plus end- and minus end-directed motors.
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Ribbeck, Katharina, Aaron C. Groen, Rachel Santarella, Markus T. Bohnsack, Tim Raemaekers, Thomas Köcher, Marc Gentzel, et al. "NuSAP, a Mitotic RanGTP Target That Stabilizes and Cross-links Microtubules." Molecular Biology of the Cell 17, no. 6 (June 2006): 2646–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e05-12-1178.
Full textAbstract:
Nucleolar and spindle-associated protein (NuSAP) was recently identified as a microtubule- and chromatin-binding protein in vertebrates that is nuclear during interphase. Small interfering RNA-mediated depletion of NuSAP resulted in aberrant spindle formation, missegregation of chromosomes, and ultimately blocked cell proliferation. We show here that NuSAP is enriched on chromatin-proximal microtubules at meiotic spindles in Xenopus oocytes. When added at higher than physiological levels to Xenopus egg extract, NuSAP induces extensive bundling of spindle microtubules and causes bundled microtubules within spindle-like structures to become longer. In vitro reconstitution experiments reveal two direct effects of NuSAP on microtubules: first, it can efficiently stabilize microtubules against depolymerization, and second, it can cross-link large numbers of microtubules into aster-like structures, thick fibers, and networks. With defined components we show that the activity of NuSAP is differentially regulated by Importin (Imp) α, Impβ, and Imp7. While Impα and Imp7 appear to block the microtubule-stabilizing activity of NuSAP, Impβ specifically suppresses aspects of the cross-linking activity of NuSAP. We propose that to achieve full NuSAP functionality at the spindle, all three importins must be dissociated by RanGTP. Once activated, NuSAP may aid to maintain spindle integrity by stabilizing and cross-linking microtubules around chromatin.
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Inoue, S., O. C. Yoder, B. G. Turgeon, and J. R. Aist. "A cytoplasmic dynein required for mitotic aster formation in vivo." Journal of Cell Science 111, no. 17 (September 1, 1998): 2607–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.111.17.2607.
Full textAbstract:
An astral pulling force helps to elongate the mitotic spindle in the filamentous ascomycete, Nectria haematococca. Evidence is mounting that dynein is required for the formation of mitotic spindles and asters. Obviously, this would be an important mitotic function of dynein, since it would be a prerequisite for astral force to be applied to a spindle pole. Missing from the evidence for such a role of dynein in aster formation, however, has been a dynein mutant lacking mitotic asters. To determine whether or not cytoplasmic dynein is involved in mitotic aster formation in N. haematococca, a dynein-deficient mutant was made. Immunocytochemistry visualized few or no mitotic astral microtubules in the mutant cells, and studies of living cells confirmed the veracity of this result by revealing the absence of mitotic aster functions in vivo: intra-astral motility of membranous organelles was not apparent; the rate and extent of spindle elongation during anaphase B were reduced; and spindle pole body separation almost stopped when the anaphase B spindle in the mutant was cut by a laser microbeam, demonstrating unequivocally that no astral pulling force was present. These unique results not only provide a demonstration that cytoplasmic dynein is required for the formation of mitotic asters in N. haematococca; they also represent the first report of mitotic phenotypes in a dynein mutant of any filamentous fungus and the first cytoplasmic dynein mutant of any organism whose mitotic phenotypes demonstrate the requirement of cytoplasmic dynein for aster formation in vivo.
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Dikovskaya, Dina, Ian P. Newton, and Inke S. Näthke. "The Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein Is Required for the Formation of Robust Spindles Formed in CSF Xenopus Extracts." Molecular Biology of the Cell 15, no. 6 (June 2004): 2978–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e03-08-0613.
Full textAbstract:
Mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) protein occur early in colon cancer and correlate with chromosomal instability. Here, we show that depletion of APC from cystostatic factor (CSF) Xenopus extracts leads to a decrease in microtubule density and changes in tubulin distribution in spindles and asters formed in such extracts. Addition of full-length APC protein or a large, N-terminally truncated APC fragment to APC-depleted extracts restored normal spindle morphology and the intact microtubule-binding site of APC was necessary for this rescue. These data indicate that the APC protein plays a role in the formation of spindles that is dependent on its effect on microtubules. Spindles formed in cycled extracts were not sensitive to APC depletion. In CSF extracts, spindles predominantly formed from aster-like intermediates, whereas in cycled extracts chromatin was the major site of initial microtubule polymerization. These data suggest that APC is important for centrosomally driven spindle formation, which was confirmed by our finding that APC depletion reduced the size of asters nucleated from isolated centrosomes. We propose that lack of microtubule binding in cancer-associated mutations of APC may contribute to defects in the assembly of mitotic spindles and lead to missegregation of chromosomes.
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Zimmerman, Wendy C., James Sillibourne, Jack Rosa, and Stephen J. Doxsey. "Mitosis-specific Anchoring of γ Tubulin Complexes by Pericentrin Controls Spindle Organization and Mitotic Entry." Molecular Biology of the Cell 15, no. 8 (August 2004): 3642–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e03-11-0796.
Full textAbstract:
Microtubule nucleation is the best known function of centrosomes. Centrosomal microtubule nucleation is mediated primarily by γ tubulin ring complexes (γ TuRCs). However, little is known about the molecules that anchor these complexes to centrosomes. In this study, we show that the centrosomal coiled-coil protein pericentrin anchors γ TuRCs at spindle poles through an interaction with γ tubulin complex proteins 2 and 3 (GCP2/3). Pericentrin silencing by small interfering RNAs in somatic cells disrupted γ tubulin localization and spindle organization in mitosis but had no effect on γ tubulin localization or microtubule organization in interphase cells. Similarly, overexpression of the GCP2/3 binding domain of pericentrin disrupted the endogenous pericentrin–γ TuRC interaction and perturbed astral microtubules and spindle bipolarity. When added to Xenopus mitotic extracts, this domain uncoupled γ TuRCs from centrosomes, inhibited microtubule aster assembly, and induced rapid disassembly of preassembled asters. All phenotypes were significantly reduced in a pericentrin mutant with diminished GCP2/3 binding and were specific for mitotic centrosomal asters as we observed little effect on interphase asters or on asters assembled by the Ran-mediated centrosome-independent pathway. Additionally, pericentrin silencing or overexpression induced G2/antephase arrest followed by apoptosis in many but not all cell types. We conclude that pericentrin anchoring of γ tubulin complexes at centrosomes in mitotic cells is required for proper spindle organization and that loss of this anchoring mechanism elicits a checkpoint response that prevents mitotic entry and triggers apoptotic cell death.
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Hamaguchi, Y., M. Toriyama, H. Sakai, and Y. Hiramoto. "Distribution of fluorescently labeled tubulin injected into sand dollar eggs from fertilization through cleavage." Journal of Cell Biology 100, no. 4 (April 1, 1985): 1262–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.100.4.1262.
Full textAbstract:
Porcine brain tubulin labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was able to polymerize by itself and co-polymerize with tubulin purified from starfish sperm flagella. When we injected the FITC-labeled tubulin into unfertilized eggs of the sand dollar, Clypeaster japonicus, and the eggs were then fertilized, the labeled tubulin was incorporated into the sperm aster. When injected into fertilized eggs at streak stage, the tubulin was quickly incorporated into each central region of growing asters. It was clearly visualized that the labeled tubulin, upon reaching metaphase, accumulated in the mitotic apparatus and later disappeared over the cytoplasm during interphase. The accumulation of the fluorescence in the mitotic apparatus was observed repeatedly at successive cleavage. After lysis of the fertilized eggs with a microtubule-stabilizing solution, fluorescent fibrous structures around the nucleus and those of the sperm aster and the mitotic apparatus were preserved and coincided with the fibrous structures observed by polarization and differential interference microscopy. We found the FITC-labeled tubulin to be incorporated into the entire mitotic apparatus within 20-30 s when injected into the eggs at metaphase or anaphase. This rapid incorporation of the labeled tubulin into the mitotic apparatus suggests that the equilibrium between mitotic microtubules and tubulin is attained very rapidly in the living eggs. Axonemal tubulin purified from starfish sperm flagella and labeled with FITC was also incorporated into microtubular structures in the same fashion as the FITC-labeled brain tubulin. These results suggest that even FITC-labeled heterogeneous tubulins undergo spatial and stage-specific regulation of assembly-disassembly in the same manner as does sand dollar egg tubulin.
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Kim, Bong-Ki, Youn-Jeong Lee, Xiang-Shun Cui, and Nam-Hyung Kim. "Chromatin and microtubule organisation in maturing and pre-activated porcine oocytes following intracytoplasmic sperm injection." Zygote 10, no. 2 (May 2002): 123–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0967199402002174.
Full textAbstract:
Chromatin and microtubule organisation was determined in maturing and activated porcine oocytes following intracytoplasmic sperm injection in order to obtain insights into the nature of sperm chromatin decondensation and microtubule nucleation activity. Sperm chromatin was slightly decondensed at 8 h following injection into germinal vesicle stage oocytes. Sperm-derived microtubules were not seen in these oocytes. Following injection into metaphase I (MI)-stage oocytes, sperm chromatin went to metaphase in most cases. A meiotic-like spindle was seen in the sperm metaphase chromatin. In a few MI-stage oocytes, sperm chromatin decondensed at 8 h after injection, and a small sperm aster was seen. Sperm injection into oocytes at 5 h following activation failed to yield pronuclear formation. Maternally derived microtubules were organised near the female chromatin in these oocytes, and seemed to move condensed male chromatin closer to the female pronucleus. At 18 h after sperm injection into pre-activated oocytes, a condensed sperm nucleus was located in close proximity to the female pronucleus. These results suggest that the sperm nuclear decondensing activity and microtubule nucleation abilities of the male centrosome are cell cycle dependent. In the absence of a functional male centrosome, microtubules of female origin take over the role of microtubule nucleation for nuclear movement.
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Ookata, K., S. Hisanaga, J. C. Bulinski, H. Murofushi, H. Aizawa, T. J. Itoh, H. Hotani, E. Okumura, K. Tachibana, and T. Kishimoto. "Cyclin B interaction with microtubule-associated protein 4 (MAP4) targets p34cdc2 kinase to microtubules and is a potential regulator of M-phase microtubule dynamics." Journal of Cell Biology 128, no. 5 (March 1, 1995): 849–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.128.5.849.
Full textAbstract:
We previously demonstrated (Ookata et al., 1992, 1993) that the p34cdc2/cyclin B complex associates with microtubules in the mitotic spindle and premeiotic aster in starfish oocytes, and that microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) might be responsible for this interaction. In this study, we have investigated the mechanism by which p34cdc2 kinase associates with the microtubule cytoskeleton in primate tissue culture cells whose major MAP is known to be MAP4. Double staining of primate cells with anti-cyclin B and anti-MAP4 antibodies demonstrated these two antigens were colocalized on microtubules and copartitioned following two treatments that altered MAP4 distribution. Detergent extraction before fixation removed cyclin B as well as MAP4 from the microtubules. Depolymerization of some of the cellular microtubules with nocodazole preferentially retained the microtubule localization of both cyclin B and MAP4. The association of p34cdc2/cyclin B kinase with microtubules was also shown biochemically to be mediated by MAP4. Cosedimentation of purified p34cdc2/cyclin B with purified microtubule proteins containing MAP4, but not with MAP-free microtubules, as well as binding of MAP4 to GST-cyclin B fusion proteins, demonstrated an interaction between cyclin B and MAP4. Using recombinant MAP4 fragments, we demonstrated that the Pro-rich C-terminal region of MAP4 is sufficient to mediate the cyclin B-MAP4 interaction. Since p34cdc2/cyclin B physically associated with MAP4, we examined the ability of the kinase complex to phosphorylate MAP4. Incubation of a ternary complex of p34cdc2, cyclin B, and the COOH-terminal domain of MAP4, PA4, with ATP resulted in intracomplex phosphorylation of PA4. Finally, we tested the effects of MAP4 phosphorylation on microtubule dynamics. Phosphorylation of MAP4 by p34cdc2 kinase did not prevent its binding to microtubules, but abolished its microtubule stabilizing activity. Thus, the cyclin B/MAP4 interaction we have described may be important in targeting the mitotic kinase to appropriate cytoskeletal substrates, for the regulation of spindle assembly and dynamics.
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Tsai, Miao-Chih, and Julie Ahringer. "Microtubules are involved in anterior-posterior axis formation in C. elegans embryos." Journal of Cell Biology 179, no. 3 (October 29, 2007): 397–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200708101.
Full textAbstract:
Microtubules deliver positional signals and are required for establishing polarity in many different organisms and cell types. In Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, posterior polarity is induced by an unknown centrosome-dependent signal. Whether microtubules are involved in this signaling process has been the subject of controversy. Although early studies supported such an involvement (O'Connell, K.F., K.N. Maxwell, and J.G. White. 2000. Dev. Biol. 222:55–70; Wallenfang, M.R., and G. Seydoux. 2000. Nature. 408:89–92; Hamill, D.R., A.F. Severson, J.C. Carter, and B. Bowerman. 2002. Dev. Cell. 3:673–684), recent work involving RNA interference knockdown of tubulin led to the conclusion that centrosomes induce polarity independently of microtubules (Cowan, C.R., and A.A. Hyman. 2004. Nature. 431:92–96; Sonneville, R., and P. Gonczy. 2004. Development. 131: 3527–3543). In this study, we investigate the consequences of tubulin knockdown on polarity signaling. We find that tubulin depletion delays polarity induction relative to wild type and that polarity only occurs when a small, late-growing microtubule aster is visible at the centrosome. We also show that the process of a normal meiosis produces a microtubule-dependent polarity signal and that the relative levels of anterior and posterior PAR (partitioning defective) polarity proteins influence the response to polarity signaling. Our results support a role for microtubules in the induction of embryonic polarity in C. elegans.
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Bonaccorsi, Silvia, Maria Grazia Giansanti, and Maurizio Gatti. "Spindle Self-organization and Cytokinesis During Male Meiosis in asterless Mutants of Drosophila melanogaster." Journal of Cell Biology 142, no. 3 (August 10, 1998): 751–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.142.3.751.
Full textAbstract:
While Drosophila female meiosis is anastral, both meiotic divisions in Drosophila males exhibit prominent asters. We have identified a gene we call asterless (asl) that is required for aster formation during male meiosis. Ultrastructural analysis showed that asl mutants have morphologically normal centrioles. However, immunostaining with antibodies directed either to γ tubulin or centrosomin revealed that these proteins do not accumulate in the centrosomes, as occurs in wild-type. Thus, asl appears to specify a function required for the assembly of centrosomal material around the centrioles. Despite the absence of asters, meiotic cells of asl mutants manage to develop an anastral spindle. Microtubules grow from multiple sites around the chromosomes, and then focus into a peculiar bipolar spindle that mediates chromosome segregation, although in a highly irregular way. Surprisingly, asl spermatocytes eventually form a morphologically normal ana–telophase central spindle that has full ability to stimulate cytokinesis. These findings challenge the classical view on central spindle assembly, arguing for a self-organization of this structure from either preexisting or newly formed microtubules. In addition, these findings strongly suggest that the asters are not required for signaling cytokinesis.
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Stefanovic, Sandra, Miriam Windsor, Koh-ici Nagata, Masaki Inagaki, and Thomas Wileman. "Vimentin Rearrangement during African Swine Fever Virus Infection Involves Retrograde Transport along Microtubules and Phosphorylation of Vimentin by Calcium Calmodulin Kinase II." Journal of Virology 79, no. 18 (September 15, 2005): 11766–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jvi.79.18.11766-11775.2005.
Full textAbstract:
ABSTRACT African swine fever virus (ASFV) infection leads to rearrangement of vimentin into a cage surrounding virus factories. Vimentin rearrangement in cells generally involves phosphorylation of N-terminal domains of vimentin by cellular kinases to facilitate disassembly and transport of vimentin filaments on microtubules. Here, we demonstrate that the first stage in vimentin rearrangement during ASFV infection involves a microtubule-dependent concentration of vimentin into an “aster” within virus assembly sites located close to the microtubule organizing center. The aster may play a structural role early during the formation of the factory. Conversion of the aster into a cage required ASFV DNA replication. Interestingly, viral DNA replication also resulted in the activation of calcium calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) and phosphorylation of the N-terminal domain of vimentin on serine 82. Immunostaining showed that vimentin within the cage was phosphorylated on serine 82. Significantly, both viral DNA replication and Ser 82 phosphorylation were blocked by KN93, an inhibitor of CaM kinase II, suggesting a link between CaM kinase II activation, DNA replication, and late gene expression. Phosphorylation of vimentin on serine 82 may be necessary for cage formation or may simply be a consequence of activation of CaM kinase II by ASFV. The vimentin cage may serve a cytoprotective function and prevent movement of viral components into the cytoplasm and at the same time concentrate late structural proteins at sites of virus assembly.
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Zhu, Jie, Anton Burakov, Vladimir Rodionov, and Alex Mogilner. "Finding the Cell Center by a Balance of Dynein and Myosin Pulling and Microtubule Pushing: A Computational Study." Molecular Biology of the Cell 21, no. 24 (December 15, 2010): 4418–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e10-07-0627.
Full textAbstract:
The centrosome position in many types of interphase cells is actively maintained in the cell center. Our previous work indicated that the centrosome is kept at the center by pulling force generated by dynein and actin flow produced by myosin contraction and that an unidentified factor that depends on microtubule dynamics destabilizes position of the centrosome. Here, we use modeling to simulate the centrosome positioning based on the idea that the balance of three forces—dyneins pulling along microtubule length, myosin-powered centripetal drag, and microtubules pushing on organelles—is responsible for the centrosome displacement. By comparing numerical predictions with centrosome behavior in wild-type and perturbed interphase cells, we rule out several plausible hypotheses about the nature of the microtubule-based force. We conclude that strong dynein- and weaker myosin-generated forces pull the microtubules inward competing with microtubule plus-ends pushing the microtubule aster outward and that the balance of these forces positions the centrosome at the cell center. The model also predicts that kinesin action could be another outward-pushing force. Simulations demonstrate that the force-balance centering mechanism is robust yet versatile. We use the experimental observations to reverse engineer the characteristic forces and centrosome mobility.
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Fujinami, N., Y. Hosoi, H. Kato, T. Mitani, K. Matsumoto, K. Saeki, and A. Iritani. "313 EFFECTS OF ETHANOL TREATMENT AFTER INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION (ICSI) ON SPERM AFTER FORMATION AND THE MICROTUBULE ORGANIZATION OF BOVINE OOCYTES." Reproduction, Fertility and Development 17, no. 2 (2005): 307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rdv17n2ab313.
Full textAbstract:
The cleavage rate of bovine embryos is very low without activation of oocytes after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), although both male and female pronuclei are formed. We previously reported that the stimulus due to the injected sperm alone was sufficient to lower the MPF activity of bovine oocytes after ICSI, and the activation treatment of oocytes with ethanol at 4 h after ICSI served to maintain the low levels of MPF activity until the next cell cycle started (Fujinami et al. 2004 J. Reprod. Dev. 50, 171–178). These results suggested that activation treatment is necessary to improve the embryonic development after bovine ICSI. In bovine fertilization, the sperm introduces the centrosome into the oocyte. The centrosome acts as the microtubule-organizing center and microtubules are organized within the oocyte. It is reported that the sperm aster is important for the normal fertilization process. Therefore, failure of sperm aster formation possibly causes the failure of cleavage following fertilization. To investigate the reason of the low cleavage rate after bovine ICSI without artificial activation treatment, we examined sperm aster formation and the microtubule organization in bovine oocytes with or without activation treatment after ICSI. Bull spermatozoa immobilized by piezopulse was injected into bovine oocytes matured in vitro. At 4 h after ICSI, oocytes were treated with 7% ethanol in TCM199 for 5 min for activation. Oocytes were fixed at 6 and 12 h after ICSI, and the microtubule organization was examined by using specific antibodies and immunofluorescence microscopy. The cleavage rate (51% vs. 15%) and the developmental rate to the blastocyst stage (13% vs. 3%) were increased by ethanol treatment after ICSI (with or without ethanol treatment, respectively, P < 0.05). In oocytes activated with ethanol after ICSI, both the sperm aster formation rate at 6 h and the microtubule organization rate at 12 h after ICSI were significantly higher than in oocytes without activation treatment (58%, 80% vs. 12%, 26%, P < 0.05). It was reported that the sperm aster has an important role for the pronuclear movement to make the male and female pronuclei come into close apposition. From these results, it was concluded that oocyte activation after bovine ICSI promoted sperm aster formation and microtubule organization, and was effective to improve embryonic development. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for the 21st Century COE Program of the Japan MEXT, and by a grant from the Wakayama Prefecture Collaboration of Regional Entities for the Advancement of Technological Excellence of the JST.
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Giet, Régis, Doris McLean, Simon Descamps, Michael J. Lee, Jordan W. Raff, Claude Prigent, and David M. Glover. "Drosophila Aurora A kinase is required to localize D-TACC to centrosomes and to regulate astral microtubules." Journal of Cell Biology 156, no. 3 (February 4, 2002): 437–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200108135.
Full textAbstract:
Disruption of the function of the A-type Aurora kinase of Drosophila by mutation or RNAi leads to a reduction in the length of astral microtubules in syncytial embryos, larval neuroblasts, and cultured S2 cells. In neuroblasts, it can also lead to loss of an organized centrosome and its associated aster from one of the spindle poles, whereas the centrosome at the other pole has multiple centrioles. When centrosomes are present at the poles of aurA mutants or aurA RNAi spindles, they retain many antigens but are missing the Drosophila counterpart of mammalian transforming acidic coiled coil (TACC) proteins, D-TACC. We show that a subpopulation of the total Aurora A is present in a complex with D-TACC, which is a substrate for the kinase. We propose that one of the functions of Aurora A kinase is to direct centrosomal organization such that D-TACC complexed to the MSPS/XMAP215 microtubule-associated protein may be recruited, and thus modulate the behavior of astral microtubules.
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Endow, S. A., and D. J. Komma. "Assembly and dynamics of an anastral:astral spindle: the meiosis II spindle of Drosophila oocytes." Journal of Cell Science 111, no. 17 (September 1, 1998): 2487–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.111.17.2487.
Full textAbstract:
The meiosis II spindle of Drosophila oocytes is distinctive in structure, consisting of two tandem spindles with anastral distal poles and an aster-associated spindle pole body between the central poles. Assembly of the anastral:astral meiosis II spindle occurs by reorganization of the meiosis I spindle, without breakdown of the meiosis I spindle. The unusual disk- or ring-shaped central spindle pole body forms de novo in the center of the elongated meiosis I spindle, followed by formation of the central spindle poles. gamma-Tubulin transiently localizes to the central spindle pole body, implying that the body acts as a microtubule nucleating center for assembly of the central poles. Localization of gamma-tubulin to the meiosis II spindle is dependent on the microtubule motor protein, Nonclaret disjunctional (Ncd). Absence of Ncd results in loss of gamma-tubulin localization to the spindle and destabilization of microtubules in the central region of the spindle. Assembly of the anastral:astral meiosis II spindle probably involves rapid reassortment of microtubule plus and minus ends in the center of the meiosis I spindle - this can be accounted for by a model that also accounts for the loss of gamma-tubulin localization to the spindle and destabilization of microtubules in the absence of Ncd.
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Wittmann, Torsten, Haralabia Boleti, Claude Antony, Eric Karsenti, and Isabelle Vernos. "Localization of the Kinesin-like Protein Xklp2 to Spindle Poles Requires a Leucine Zipper, a Microtubule-associated Protein, and Dynein." Journal of Cell Biology 143, no. 3 (November 2, 1998): 673–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.143.3.673.
Full textAbstract:
Xklp2 is a plus end–directed Xenopus kinesin-like protein localized at spindle poles and required for centrosome separation during spindle assembly in Xenopus egg extracts. A glutathione-S-transferase fusion protein containing the COOH-terminal domain of Xklp2 (GST-Xklp2-Tail) was previously found to localize to spindle poles (Boleti, H., E. Karsenti, and I. Vernos. 1996. Cell. 84:49–59). Now, we have examined the mechanism of localization of GST-Xklp2-Tail. Immunofluorescence and electron microscopy showed that Xklp2 and GST-Xklp2-Tail localize specifically to the minus ends of spindle pole and aster microtubules in mitotic, but not in interphase, Xenopus egg extracts. We found that dimerization and a COOH-terminal leucine zipper are required for this localization: a single point mutation in the leucine zipper prevented targeting. The mechanism of localization is complex and two additional factors in mitotic egg extracts are required for the targeting of GST-Xklp2-Tail to microtubule minus ends: (a) a novel 100-kD microtubule-associated protein that we named TPX2 (Targeting protein for Xklp2) that mediates the binding of GST-Xklp2-Tail to microtubules and (b) the dynein–dynactin complex that is required for the accumulation of GST-Xklp2-Tail at microtubule minus ends. We propose two molecular mechanisms that could account for the localization of Xklp2 to microtubule minus ends.
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Kamada, Takashi, and Shigeru Tanabe. "The role of the cytoskeleton in the movement and positioning of nuclei in Coprinus cinereus." Canadian Journal of Botany 73, S1 (December 31, 1995): 364–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b95-269.
Full textAbstract:
Coprinus cinereus exhibits conspicuous nuclear movement and precise nuclear positioning during its life cycle. Examples include transhyphal migration of nuclei in compatible mating giving rise to a dikaryon, nuclear positioning relative to the hyphal apex in the dikaryon, the close spacing in interphase and conjugate division of the two nuclei in the dikaryon, and the migration of nuclei from the basidium into developing spores. We have investigated the roles of the cytoskeleton in these processes using cytoskeleton mutants as well as fluorescence microscopy. Some of the α1- and β1-tubulin mutations examined blocked nuclear migration in dikaryosis and disturbed nuclear pairing in the dikaryon, demonstrating that microtubules are involved in these processes. The same mutations, however, did not affect the positioning of nuclei in interphase nor in conjugate division in the dikaryon, nor the migration of nuclei into the developing spores. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that these mutations inhibit the formation of asters of the mitotic apparatus in conjugate division, providing evidence against direct involvement of astral microtubules in nuclear movement during conjugate division. Actin was concentrated in hyphal regions where the nuclei sit in early phases of conjugate division, suggesting the involvement of actin in conjugate division. Key words: Coprinus cinereus, dikaryon, nuclear movement, microtubules, aster, actin.
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Dufresne, L., I. Neant, J. St-Pierre, F. Dube, and P. Guerrier. "Effects of 6-dimethylaminopurine on microtubules and putative intermediate filaments in sea urchin embryos." Journal of Cell Science 99, no. 4 (August 1, 1991): 721–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.99.4.721.
Full textAbstract:
The effects of 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP) (a putative phosphorylation inhibitor) on the state of assembly of microtubules and intermediate filaments have been studied during the first cell cycle of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis. Changes in the spatial organization of cytoskeletal structures were studied by indirect immunofluorescence with anti-tubulin and anti-IFa antibodies. The rates and patterns of protein phosphorylation in control and treated eggs were also investigated. The transfer of fertilized eggs to 600 microM 6-DMAP within 4 min following insemination inhibits pronuclear migration and syngamy. This also prevents male pronuclear decondensation, while chromatin condensation and nuclear envelope breakdown do not occur in the female pronucleus. Immunolabeling with anti-tubulin antibodies reveals the presence of cortical microtubules as early as 15 min after fertilization in both control and treated eggs. However, no sperm astral microtubules could be detected in the treated eggs. At later stages, from syngamy (40 min) up to nuclear envelope breakdown (90 min), 6-DMAP affects neither cortical microtubule organization nor the state of chromatin condensation but it precludes nuclear envelope breakdown and entry into mitosis. Treatment of the fertilized eggs after nuclear envelope breakdown induces permanent chromosome decondensation and premature disappearance of the mitotic apparatus. This last event involves disruption of the spatial organization of both microtubules and putative intermediate filaments. Quantitative measurements of protein phosphorylation show that 6-DMAP efficiently and reversibly inhibits 32P incorporation into proteins. Qualitative analysis of the autoradiograms of 32P-labeled proteins separated by SDS-PAGE reveals that a major protein band, migrating with an apparent molecular weight of 31 × 10(3)Mr, is specifically dephosphorylated in eggs treated with 6-DMAP. This study suggests that protein phosphorylation is required for sperm aster microtubule growth and migration, but not for cortical microtubule polymerization. It also strengthens the hypothesis that, in sea urchin eggs, putative intermediate filaments are tightly associated with spindle microtubules. Finally, it confirms that inhibiting protein phosphorylation before nuclear envelope breakdown reversibly prevents the entry into mitosis.