The role of centrosomes in fertilization, cell division and establishment of asymmetry during embryo development

Centrosomes play significant central roles during reproduction, cell division, embryo development and stem cell biology, and a wealth of new information has been accumulated during the past decade that spans molecular details and newly discovered functions/dysfunctions for specific centrosome proteins in various cellular activities. The present review will focus on the current state of knowledge on the role of germ cell centrosomes during fertilization, formation of the zygote centrosome, centrosome duplication and separation during first embryonic cell division, and asymmetric cell divisions during cell differentiation and subsequent embryo development. It will also address asymmetric cell division in stem cells and formation of the primary cilium during embryo development. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.