Dataset Information

CaMKIIgamma-mediated inactivation of the Kin I kinesin MCAK is essential for bipolar spindle formation.

ABSTRACT: MCAK, a member of the kinesin-13 family, is a microtubule (MT) depolymerase that is necessary to ensure proper kinetochore MT attachment during spindle formation. Regulation of MCAK activity and localization is controlled in part by Aurora B kinase at the centromere. Here we analyzed human cells depleted of the ubiquitous Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIgamma isoform (CaMKIIgamma) by RNA interference and found that CaMKIIgamma was necessary to suppress MCAK depolymerase activity in vivo. A functional overlap with TOGp, a MT regulator known to counteract MCAK, was suggested by similar CaMKIIgamma- and TOGp-depletion phenotypes, namely disorganized multipolar spindles. A replicating vector system, which permits inducible overexpression in cells that simultaneously synthesize interfering short hairpin RNAs, was used to dissect the functional interplay between CaMKIIgamma, TOGp, and MCAK. Our results revealed two distinct but functionally overlapping mechanisms for negative regulation of the cytosolic/centrosomal pool of MCAK. These two mechanisms, involving CaMKIIgamma and TOGp, respectively, are both essential for spindle bipolarity in a normal physiological context, but not in MCAK-depleted cells.

SUBMITTER: Holmfeldt P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC556404 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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CaMKIIgamma-mediated inactivation of the Kin I kinesin MCAK is essential for bipolar spindle formation.

Holmfeldt Per P Zhang Xin X Stenmark Sonja S Walczak Claire E CE Gullberg Martin M

The EMBO journal 20050303 6

MCAK, a member of the kinesin-13 family, is a microtubule (MT) depolymerase that is necessary to ensure proper kinetochore MT attachment during spindle formation. Regulation of MCAK activity and localization is controlled in part by Aurora B kinase at the centromere. Here we analyzed human cells depleted of the ubiquitous Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIgamma isoform (CaMKIIgamma) by RNA interference and found that CaMKIIgamma was necessary to suppress MCAK depolymerase activity in ...[more]

PMID: 15775983

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Project description:Mitotic spindles assume a bipolar architecture through the concerted actions of microtubules, motors, and cross-linking proteins. In most eukaryotes, kinesin-5 motors are essential to this process, and cells will fail to form a bipolar spindle without kinesin-5 activity. Remarkably, inactivation of kinesin-14 motors can rescue this kinesin-5 deficiency by reestablishing the balance of antagonistic forces needed to drive spindle pole separation and spindle assembly. We show that the yeast form of the opportunistic fungus Candida albicans assembles bipolar spindles in the absence of its sole kinesin-5, CaKip1, even though this motor exhibits stereotypical cell-cycle-dependent localization patterns within the mitotic spindle. However, cells lacking CaKip1 function have shorter metaphase spindles and longer and more numerous astral microtubules. They also show defective hyphal development. Interestingly, a small population of CaKip1-deficient spindles break apart and reform two bipolar spindles in a single nucleus. These spindles then separate, dividing the nucleus, and then elongate simultaneously in the mother and bud or across the bud neck, resulting in multinucleate cells. These data suggest that kinesin-5-independent mechanisms drive assembly and elongation of the mitotic spindle in C. albicans and that CaKip1 is important for bipolar spindle integrity. We also found that simultaneous loss of kinesin-5 and kinesin-14 (CaKar3Cik1) activity is lethal. This implies a divergence from the antagonistic force paradigm that has been ascribed to these motors, which could be linked to the high mitotic error rate that C. albicans experiences and often exploits as a generator of diversity.IMPORTANCECandida albicans is one of the most prevalent fungal pathogens of humans and can infect a broad range of niches within its host. This organism frequently acquires resistance to antifungal agents through rapid generation of genetic diversity, with aneuploidy serving as a particularly important adaptive mechanism. This paper describes an investigation of the sole kinesin-5 in C. albicans, which is a major regulator of chromosome segregation. Contrary to other eukaryotes studied thus far, C. albicans does not require kinesin-5 function for bipolar spindle assembly or spindle elongation. Rather, this motor protein associates with the spindle throughout mitosis to maintain spindle integrity. Furthermore, kinesin-5 loss is synthetically lethal with loss of kinesin-14-canonically an opposing force producer to kinesin-5 in spindle assembly and anaphase. These results suggest a significant evolutionary rewiring of microtubule motor functions in the C. albicans mitotic spindle, which may have implications in the genetic instability of this pathogen.

Dataset Information

CaMKIIgamma-mediated inactivation of the Kin I kinesin MCAK is essential for bipolar spindle formation.

Publications

CaMKIIgamma-mediated inactivation of the Kin I kinesin MCAK is essential for bipolar spindle formation.

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