Journal
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
Volume 13, Issue 6, Pages 708-U187Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2242
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Funding
- MEXT [17017038]
- JSPS [19671003, 21570209]
- National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [21570209, 17017038, 19671003] Funding Source: KAKEN
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The assembly of a functional mitotic spindle is crucial for achieving successful mitosis. Aurora A kinase is one of the key regulators of mitotic events, including mitotic entry, centrosome maturation and spindle bipolarity(1,2). Caenorhabditis elegans Aurora A (AIR-1) is responsible for the assembly of gamma-tubulin-independent microtubules in early embryos(3); however, the mechanism by which AIR-1 contributes to microtubule assembly during mitosis has been unclear. Here we show by live-cell imaging and RNA-mediated interference (RNAi)-based modulation of gene activity that AIR-1 has a crucial role in the assembly of chromatin-stimulated microtubules that is independent of the gamma-tubulin complex. Surprisingly, the kinase activity of AIR-1 is dispensable for this process. Although the kinase-inactive form of AIR-1 was detected along the microtubules as well as on centrosomes, the kinase-active form of AIR-1 was restricted to centrosomes. Thus, we propose that AIR-1 has a kinase-dependent role at centrosomes and a kinase-independent role for stabilizing spindle microtubules and that coordination of these two roles is crucial for the assembly of mitotic spindles.
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