Spindles cotton on to junctions, APC and EB1

Recent work in Drosophila has shown that the adherens junctions of epithelial cells provide a planar cue to orientate mitotic spindles during symmetrical division. This planar cue depends on the function of E-APC and dEB1, homologues of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumour suppressor and of the microtubule-binding yeast protein Bim1.