Michael Glotzer

Cyclin is a component of maturation-promoting factor from Xenopus

Highly purified maturation-promoting factor (MPF) from Xenopus eggs contains both cyclin B1 and cyclin B2 as shown by Western blotting and immunoprecipitation using Xenopus anti-B-type cyclin antibodies. Immunoprecipitates with these antibodies display the histone H1 kinase activity characteristic of MPF, for which exogenously added B1 and B2 cyclins are both substrates. Protein kinase activity against cyclin oscillates in maturing oocytes and activated eggs with the same kinetics as p34cdc2 kinase activity. These data indicate that B-type cyclin is the other component of MPF besides p34cdc2.

Anaphase Is Initiated by Proteolysis Rather Than by the Inactivation of Maturation-Promoting Factor

We have used frog egg extracts that assemble mitotic spindles to identify the event that triggers sister chromatid separation. Adding a nondegradable form of cyclin B prevents maturation-promoting factor (MPF) inactivation but does not block sister chromatid separation, showing that MPF inactivation is not needed to initiate anaphase. In contrast, adding an N-terminal fragment of cyclin, which acts as a specific competitor for cyclin degradation, produces a dose-dependent delay in MPF inactivation and sister chromatid separation. Methylated ubiquitin, which inhibits ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, also delays sister chromatid separation, suggesting that ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is necessary to initiate anaphase. The N-terminal cyclin fragment inhibits chromosome separation even in extracts that contain only nondegradable forms of cyclin, suggesting that proteins other than the known cyclins must be degraded to dissolve the linkage between sister chromatids.

Cyclin activation of p34cdc2

The gradual accumulation of cyclin in the frog egg induces an abrupt and concerted activation of p34cdc2 that initiates mitosis. Activation is delayed even after the accumulation of cyclin to a critical threshold concentration. We have reproduced these unusual kinetic properties of p34cdc2 activation in vitro using bacterially expressed cyclin proteins and extracts derived from Xenopus eggs. Abrupt activation follows a lag period, the length of which is independent of the concentration of cyclin. The threshold concentration of cyclin and the length of the lag period are regulated by INH, an inhibitor of MPF activation in oocytes recently identified as a type 2A protein phosphatase. Binding to cyclin induces both tyrosine and threonine phosphorylation of the previously unphosphorylated p34cdc2, rendering it inactivated. The concerted transition into mitosis involves both a reduction in the rate of p34cdc2 phosphorylation on tyrosine and an increase in its rate of dephosphorylation.

Central Spindle Assembly and Cytokinesis Require a Kinesin-like Protein/RhoGAP Complex with Microtubule Bundling Activity

A late step in cytokinesis requires the central spindle, which forms during anaphase by the bundling of antiparallel nonkinetochore microtubules. Microtubule bundling and completion of cytokinesis require ZEN-4/CeMKLP-1, a kinesin-like protein, and CYK-4, which contains a RhoGAP domain. We show that CYK-4 and ZEN-4 exist in a complex in vivo that can be reconstituted in vitro. The N terminus of CYK-4 binds the central region of ZEN-4, including the neck linker. Genetic suppression data prove the functional significance of this interaction. An analogous complex, containing equimolar amounts of a CYK-4 ortholog and MKLP-1, was purified from mammalian cells. Biochemical studies indicate that this complex, named centralspindlin, is a heterotetramer. Centralspindlin, but not its individual components, strongly promotes microtubule bundling in vitro.

An ECT2–centralspindlin complex regulates the localization and function of RhoA

In anaphase, the spindle dictates the site of contractile ring assembly. Assembly and ingression of the contractile ring involves activation of myosin-II and actin polymerization, which are triggered by the GTPase RhoA. In many cells, the central spindle affects division plane positioning via unknown molecular mechanisms. Here, we dissect furrow formation in human cells and show that the RhoGEF ECT2 is required for cortical localization of RhoA and contractile ring assembly. ECT2 concentrates on the central spindle by binding to centralspindlin. Depletion of the centralspindlin component MKLP1 prevents central spindle localization of ECT2; however, RhoA, F-actin, and myosin still accumulate on the equatorial cell cortex. Depletion of the other centralspindlin component, CYK-4/MgcRacGAP, prevents cortical accumulation of RhoA, F-actin, and myosin. CYK-4 and ECT2 interact, and this interaction is cell cycle regulated via ECT2 phosphorylation. Thus, central spindle localization of ECT2 assists division plane positioning and the CYK-4 subunit of centralspindlin acts upstream of RhoA to promote furrow assembly.

Incenp and an aurora-like kinase form a complex essential for chromosome segregation and efficient completion of cytokinesis.

BACKGROUND In animal cells, cytokinesis begins shortly after the sister chromatids move to the spindle poles. The inner centromere protein (Incenp)has been implicated in both chromosome segregation and cytokinesis, but it is not known exactly how it mediates these two distinct processes. RESULTS We identified two Caenorhabditis elegans proteins, ICP-1 and ICP-2, with significant homology in their carboxyl termini to the corresponding region of vertebrate Incenp. Embryos depleted of ICP-1 by RNA-mediated interference had defects in both chromosome segregation and cytokinesis. Depletion of the Aurora-like kinase AIR-2 resulted in a similar phenotype. The carboxy-terminal region of Incenp is also homologous to that in Sli15p, a budding yeast protein that functions with the yeast Aurora kinase Ipl1p. ICP-1 bound C. elegans AIR-2 in vitro, and the corresponding mammalian orthologs Incenp and AIRK2 could be co-immunoprecipitated from cell extracts. A significant fraction of embryos depleted of ICP-1 and AIR-2 completed one cell division over the course of several cell cycles. ICP-1 promoted the stable localization of ZEN-4 (also known as CeMKLP1), a kinesin-like protein required for central spindle assembly. CONCLUSIONS ICP-1 and AIR-2 are part of a complex that is essential for chromosome segregation and for efficient completion of cytokinesis. We propose that this complex acts by promoting dissolution of sister chromatid cohesion and the assembly of the central spindle.

Comparative Analysis of Cytokinesis in Budding Yeast, Fission Yeast and Animal Cells

Cytokinesis is a temporally and spatially regulated process through which the cellular constituents of the mother cell are partitioned into two daughter cells, permitting an increase in cell number. When cytokinesis occurs in a polarized cell it can create daughters with distinct fates. In eukaryotes, cytokinesis is carried out by the coordinated action of a cortical actomyosin contractile ring and targeted membrane deposition. Recent use of model organisms with facile genetics and improved light-microscopy methods has led to the identification and functional characterization of many proteins involved in cytokinesis. To date, this analysis indicates that some of the basic components involved in cytokinesis are conserved from yeast to humans, although their organization into functional machinery that drives cytokinesis and the associated regulatory mechanisms bear species-specific features. Here, we briefly review the current status of knowledge of cytokinesis in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and animal cells, in an attempt to highlight both the common and the unique features. Although these organisms diverged from a common ancestor about a billion years ago, there are eukaryotes that are far more divergent. To evaluate the overall evolutionary conservation of cytokinesis, it will be necessary to include representatives of these divergent branches. Nevertheless, the three species discussed here provide substantial mechanistic diversity.

The 3Ms of central spindle assembly: microtubules, motors and MAPs

During metaphase, sister chromatids are positioned at the midpoint of the microtubule-based mitotic spindle in preparation for their segregation. The onset of anaphase triggers inactivation of the key mitotic kinase cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) and the polewards movement of sister chromatids. During anaphase, the mitotic spindle reorganizes in preparation for cytokinesis. Kinesin motor proteins and microtubule-associated proteins bundle the plus ends of interpolar microtubules and generate the central spindle, which regulates cleavage furrow initiation and the completion of cytokinesis. Complementary approaches, including cell biology, genetics and computational modelling, have provided new insights into the mechanism and regulation of central spindle assembly.

A requirement for Rho and Cdc42 during cytokinesis in Xenopus embryos

BACKGROUND During cytokinesis in animal cells, an equatorial actomyosin-based contractile ring divides the cell into two daughter cells. The position of the contractile ring is specified by a signal that emanates from the mitotic spindle. This signal has not been identified and it is not understood how the components of the contractile ring assemble. It is also unclear how the ring constricts or how new plasma membrane inserts specifically behind the leading edge of the constricting furrow. The Rho family of small GTPases regulate polarized changes in cell growth and cell shape by affecting the formation of actin structures beneath the plasma membrane, but their role in cytokinesis is unclear. RESULTS We have studied the function of two Rho family members during the early cell divisions of Xenopus embryos by injecting modified forms of Rho and Cdc42. Both inhibition and constitutive activation of either GTPase blocked cytokinesis. Furrow specification occurred normally, but ingression of the furrow was inhibited. Newly inserted cleavage membranes appeared aberrantly on the outer surface of the embryo. Microinjected Rho localized to the cortex and regulated the levels of cortical F-actin. CONCLUSIONS These results show that Rho regulates the assembly of actin filaments in the cortex during cytokinesis, that local activation of Rho is important for proper constriction of the contractile furrow, and that Cdc42 plays a role in furrow ingression. Moreover, our observations reveal that furrow ingression and membrane insertion are not strictly linked. Neither Rho nor Cdc42 appear to be required for establishment of the cell-division plane.

Cell cycle regulation of central spindle assembly

The bipolar mitotic spindle is responsible for segregating sister chromatids at anaphase. Microtubule motor proteins generate spindle bipolarity and enable the spindle to perform mechanical work. A major change in spindle architecture occurs at anaphase onset when central spindle assembly begins. This structure regulates the initiation of cytokinesis and is essential for its completion. Central spindle assembly requires the centralspindlin complex composed of the Caenorhabditis elegans ZEN-4 (mammalian orthologue MKLP1) kinesin-like protein and the Rho family GAP CYK-4 (MgcRacGAP). Here we describe a regulatory mechanism that controls the timing of central spindle assembly. The mitotic kinase Cdk1/cyclin B phosphorylates the motor domain of ZEN-4 on a conserved site within a basic amino-terminal extension characteristic of the MKLP1 subfamily. Phosphorylation by Cdk1 diminishes the motor activity of ZEN-4 by reducing its affinity for microtubules. Preventing Cdk1 phosphorylation of ZEN-4/MKLP1 causes enhanced metaphase spindle localization and defects in chromosome segregation. Thus, phosphoregulation of the motor domain of MKLP1 kinesin ensures that central spindle assembly occurs at the appropriate time in the cell cycle and maintains genomic stability.