TY - JOUR
T1 - Katanin contributes to interspecies spindle length scaling in xenopus
AU - Loughlin, Rose
AU - Wilbur, Jeremy D.
AU - McNally, Francis J.
AU - Nédélec, Franois J.
AU - Heald, Rebecca
PY - 2011/12/9
Y1 - 2011/12/9
N2 - Bipolar spindles must separate chromosomes by the appropriate distance during cell division, but mechanisms determining spindle length are poorly understood. Based on a 2D model of meiotic spindle assembly, we predicted that higher localized microtubule (MT) depolymerization rates could generate the shorter spindles observed in egg extracts of X. tropicalis compared to X. laevis. We found that katanin-dependent MT severing was increased in X. tropicalis, which, unlike X. laevis, lacks an inhibitory phosphorylation site in the katanin p60 catalytic subunit. Katanin inhibition lengthened spindles in both species. In X. tropicalis, k-fiber MT bundles that connect to chromosomes at their kinetochores extended through spindle poles, disrupting them. In both X. tropicalis extracts and the spindle simulation, a balance between k-fiber number and MT depolymerization is required to maintain spindle morphology. Thus, mechanisms have evolved in different species to scale spindle size and coordinate regulation of multiple MT populations in order to generate a robust steady-state structure.
AB - Bipolar spindles must separate chromosomes by the appropriate distance during cell division, but mechanisms determining spindle length are poorly understood. Based on a 2D model of meiotic spindle assembly, we predicted that higher localized microtubule (MT) depolymerization rates could generate the shorter spindles observed in egg extracts of X. tropicalis compared to X. laevis. We found that katanin-dependent MT severing was increased in X. tropicalis, which, unlike X. laevis, lacks an inhibitory phosphorylation site in the katanin p60 catalytic subunit. Katanin inhibition lengthened spindles in both species. In X. tropicalis, k-fiber MT bundles that connect to chromosomes at their kinetochores extended through spindle poles, disrupting them. In both X. tropicalis extracts and the spindle simulation, a balance between k-fiber number and MT depolymerization is required to maintain spindle morphology. Thus, mechanisms have evolved in different species to scale spindle size and coordinate regulation of multiple MT populations in order to generate a robust steady-state structure.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2011.11.014
DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2011.11.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 22153081
AN - SCOPUS:83255171049
VL - 147
SP - 1397
EP - 1407
JO - Cell
JF - Cell
SN - 0092-8674
IS - 6
ER -