1. Academic Validation
  2. Spatial organization of cytokinesis signaling reconstituted in a cell-free system

Spatial organization of cytokinesis signaling reconstituted in a cell-free system

  • Science. 2014 Oct 10;346(6206):244-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1256773.
Phuong A Nguyen 1 Aaron C Groen 1 Martin Loose 2 Keisuke Ishihara 1 Martin Wühr 2 Christine M Field 3 Timothy J Mitchison 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
  • 2 Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
  • 3 Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. Christine_Field@hms.harvard.edu.
Abstract

During animal cell division, the cleavage furrow is positioned by microtubules that signal to the actin cortex at the cell midplane. We developed a cell-free system to recapitulate cytokinesis signaling using cytoplasmic extract from Xenopus eggs. Microtubules grew out as asters from artificial centrosomes and met to organize antiparallel overlap zones. These zones blocked the interpenetration of neighboring asters and recruited cytokinesis midzone proteins, including the chromosomal passenger complex (CPC) and centralspindlin. The CPC was transported to overlap zones, which required two motor proteins, Kif4A and a Kif20A paralog. Using supported lipid bilayers to mimic the plasma membrane, we observed the recruitment of cleavage furrow markers, including an active RhoA reporter, at microtubule overlaps. This system opens further approaches to understanding the biophysics of cytokinesis signaling.

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