scholarly journals The mechanism of anaphase spindle elongation: uncoupling of tubulin incorporation and microtubule sliding during in vitro spindle reactivation.

1988 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 623-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Masuda ◽  
K L McDonald ◽  
W Z Cande

To study tubulin polymerization and microtubule sliding during spindle elongation in vitro, we developed a method of uncoupling the two processes. When isolated diatom spindles were incubated with biotinylated tubulin (biot-tb) without ATP, biot-tb was incorporated into two regions flanking the zone of microtubule overlap, but the spindles did not elongate. After biot-tb was removed, spindle elongation was initiated by addition of ATP. The incorporated biot-tb was found in the midzone between the original half-spindles. The extent and rate of elongation were increased by preincubation in biot-tb. Serial section reconstruction of spindles elongating in tubulin and ATP showed that the average length of half-spindle microtubules increased due to growth of microtubules from the ends of native microtubules. The characteristic packing pattern between antiparallel microtubules was retained even in the "new" overlap region. Our results suggest that the forces required for spindle elongation are generated by enzymes in the overlap zone that mediate the sliding apart of antiparallel microtubules, and that tubulin polymerization does not contribute to force generation. Changes in the extent of microtubule overlap during spindle elongation were affected by tubulin and ATP concentration in the incubation medium. Spindles continued to elongate even after the overlap zone was composed entirely of newly polymerized microtubules, suggesting that the enzyme responsible for microtubule translocation either is bound to a matrix in the spindle midzone, or else can move on one microtubule toward the spindle midzone and push another microtubule of opposite polarity toward the pole.

1971 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 416-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. Brinkley ◽  
Joiner Cartwright

The mitotic spindle of many mammalian cells undergoes an abrupt elongation at anaphase. In both cultured rat kangaroo (strain PtK1) and Chinese hamster (strain Don-C) fibroblasts, the distance from pole to pole at metaphase doubles during anaphase and telophase. In order to determine the organization and distribution of spindle microtubules during the elongation process, cells were fixed and flat embedded in Epon 812. Selected cells were photographed with the phase-contrast microscope and then serially sectioned perpendicular to the major spindle axis. Microtubule profiles were counted in selected sections, and the number was plotted with respect to position along the spindle axis. Interpretation of the distribution profiles indicated that not all interpolar microtubules extended from pole to pole. It is estimated that 55–70% of the interpolar microtubules are overlapped at the cell equator while 30–45% extend across the equator into both half spindles. This arrangement appeared to persist from early anaphase (before elongation) until telophase after the elongation process. Although sliding or shearing of microtubules may occur in the spindle, such appears not to be the mechanism by which the spindle elongates in anaphase. Instead, our data support the hypothesis that spindle elongation occurs by growth of prepositioned microtubules which "push" the poles apart.


1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Masuda ◽  
T Hirano ◽  
M Yanagida ◽  
W Z Cande

To investigate the mechanisms of spindle elongation and chromosome separation in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we have developed an in vitro assay using a temperature-sensitive mutant strain, nuc2. At the restrictive temperature, nuc2 cells are arrested at a metaphase-like stage with short spindles and condensed chromosomes. After permeabilization of spheroplasts of the arrested cells, spindle elongation was reactivated by addition of ATP and neurotubulin both at the restrictive and the permissive temperatures, but chromosome separation was not. This suggests that the nuc2 cells are impaired in function at a stage before sister chromatid disjunction. Spindle elongation required both ATP and exogenous tubulin and was inhibited by adenylyl imidodiphosphate (AMPPNP) or vanadate. The ends of yeast half-spindle microtubules pulse-labeled with biotinylated tubulin moved past each other during spindle elongation and a gap formed between the original half-spindles. These results suggest that the primary mechanochemical event responsible for spindle elongation is the sliding apart of antiparallel microtubules of the two half-spindles.


eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Katharina Krüger ◽  
Matthieu Gélin ◽  
Liang Ji ◽  
Carlos Kikuti ◽  
Anne Houdusse ◽  
...  

Mitotic spindle function depends on the precise regulation of microtubule dynamics and microtubule sliding. Throughout mitosis, both processes have to be orchestrated to establish and maintain spindle stability. We show that during anaphase B spindle elongation in S. pombe, the sliding motor Klp9 (kinesin-6) also promotes microtubule growth in vivo. In vitro, Klp9 can enhance and dampen microtubule growth, depending on the tubulin concentration. This indicates that the motor is able to promote and block tubulin subunit incorporation into the microtubule lattice in order to set a well-defined microtubule growth velocity. Moreover, Klp9 recruitment to spindle microtubules is dependent on its dephosphorylation mediated by XMAP215/Dis1, a microtubule polymerase, creating a link between the regulation of spindle length and spindle elongation velocity. Collectively, we unravel the mechanism of anaphase B, from Klp9 recruitment to the motors dual-function in regulating microtubule sliding and microtubule growth, allowing an inherent coordination of both processes.


1980 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
D H Tippit ◽  
L Pillus ◽  
J Pickett-Heaps

The entire framework of microtubules (MTs) in the mitotic apparatus of Ochromonas danica is reconstructed (except at the spindle poles) from transverse serial sections. Eleven spindles were sectioned and used for numerical data, but only four were reconstructed: a metaphase, an early anaphase, a late anaphase, and telophase. Four major classes of MTs are observed: (a) free MTs (MTs not attached to either pole); (b) interdigitated MTs (MTs attached to one pole which laterally associate with MTs from the opposite pole); (c) polar MTs (MTs attached to one pole); (d) kinetochore MTs (kMTs). Pole-to-pole MTs are rare and may be caused by tracking errors. During anaphase, the kMTs, free MTs, and polar MTs shorten until most disappear, while interdigitated MTs lengthen. In the four reconstructed spindles, the number of MTs decreases between early anaphase and telophase from 881 to 285, while their average length increases from 1.66 to 4.98 micron. The total length of all the MTs in the spindle (placed end to end) remains at 1.42 +/- 0.04 mm between these stages. At late anaphase and telophase the spindle is comprised mainly of groups of interdigitated MTs. Such MTs from opposite poles form a region of overlap in the middle of the spindle. During spindle elongation (separation of the poles), the length of the overlap region does not decrease. These results are compatible with theories that suggest that MTs directly provide the force that elongates the spindle, either by MT polymerization alone or by MT sliding with concomitant MT polymerization.


2003 ◽  
Vol 160 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott C. Schuyler ◽  
Jenny Y. Liu ◽  
David Pellman

The midzone is the domain of the mitotic spindle that maintains spindle bipolarity during anaphase and generates forces required for spindle elongation (anaphase B). Although there is a clear role for microtubule (MT) motor proteins at the spindle midzone, less is known about how microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) contribute to midzone organization and function. Here, we report that budding yeast Ase1p is a member of a conserved family of midzone-specific MAPs. By size exclusion chromatography and velocity sedimentation, both Ase1p in extracts and purified Ase1p behaved as a homodimer. Ase1p bound and bundled MTs in vitro. By live cell microscopy, loss of Ase1p resulted in a specific defect: premature spindle disassembly in mid-anaphase. Furthermore, when overexpressed, Ase1p was sufficient to trigger spindle elongation in S phase–arrested cells. FRAP revealed that Ase1p has both a very slow rate of turnover within the midzone and limited lateral diffusion along spindle MTs. We propose that Ase1p functions as an MT cross-bridge that imparts matrix-like characteristics to the midzone. MT-dependent networks of spindle midzone MAPs may be one molecular basis for the postulated spindle matrix.


1989 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-285
Author(s):  
LINDA WORDEMAN ◽  
H. MASUDA ◽  
W. Z. CANDE

Mitotic spindles isolated from the diatom Stephanopyxis turris will elongate in vitro in the presence of ATP with a concurrent decrease in the width of the zone of microtubule overlap. A spindle-associated phosphoprotein that co-localizes with the zone of microtubule overlap in isolated spindles serves as a convenient marker for midzone-associated proteinsother than microtubules. We have used a monoclonal antibody that labels this protein when it is artificially thiophosphorylated and studied its redistribution during spindle reactivation in vitro. As the spindle elongates midzone label accumulates in a successively narrower and brighter ring at the spindle midpoint with increasing time in ATP. Biotinylated bovine microtubule segments polymerized onto the ends of the diatom microtubules increase the overall width of the zone of microtubule overlap and serve as a marker for the boundary of the original diatom overlap zone. During elongation in ATP, the biotinylated segments move into the area marked by the monoclonal antibody, which does not decrease in width until the spindle has elongated to the point at which the zone of microtubule overlap delineated by the newly polymerized microtubules is smaller than the original overlap zone. We use these results to develop a model to explain the behaviour of nonmicrotubule midzone-associated proteins during spindle elongation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 4534-4544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérémie Gaillard ◽  
Emmanuelle Neumann ◽  
Daniel Van Damme ◽  
Virginie Stoppin-Mellet ◽  
Christine Ebel ◽  
...  

The Arabidopsis MAP65s are a protein family with similarity to the microtubule-associated proteins PRC1/Ase1p that accumulate in the spindle midzone during late anaphase in mammals and yeast, respectively. Here we investigate the molecular and functional properties of AtMAP65-5 and improve our understanding of AtMAP65-1 properties. We demonstrate that, in vitro, both proteins promote the formation of a planar network of antiparallel microtubules. In vivo, we show that AtMAP65-5 selectively binds the preprophase band and the prophase spindle microtubule during prophase, whereas AtMAP65-1-GFP selectively binds the preprophase band but does not accumulate at the prophase spindle microtubules that coexists within the same cell. At later stages of mitosis, AtMAP65-1 and AtMAP65-5 differentially label the late spindle and phragmoplast. We present evidence for a mode of action for both proteins that involves the binding of monomeric units to microtubules that “zipper up” antiparallel arranged microtubules through the homodimerization of the N-terminal halves when adjacent microtubules encounter.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara K. Krüger ◽  
Matthieu Gélin ◽  
Liang Ji ◽  
Carlos Kikuti ◽  
Anne Houdusse ◽  
...  

AbstractMitotic spindle function depends on the precise regulation of microtubule dynamics and microtubule sliding. Throughout mitosis, both processes have to be orchestrated to establish and maintain spindle stability. We show that during anaphase B spindle elongation in S. pombe, the sliding motor Klp9 (kinesin-6) also promotes microtubule growth in vivo. In vitro, Klp9 can enhance and dampen microtubule growth, depending on the tubulin concentration. This indicates that the motor is able to promote and block tubulin subunit incorporation into the microtubule lattice in order to set a well-defined microtubule growth velocity. Moreover, Klp9 recruitment to spindle microtubules is dependent on its dephosphorylation mediated by XMAP215/Dis1, a microtubule polymerase, to link the regulation of spindle length and spindle elongation velocity. Collectively, we unravel the mechanism of anaphase B, from Klp9 recruitment to the motors dual-function in regulating microtubule sliding and microtubule growth, allowing an inherent coordination of both processes.


Cell ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirohisa Masuda ◽  
W.Zacheus Cande

1984 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 1066-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
E D Salmon ◽  
M McKeel ◽  
T Hays

At metaphase, the amount of tubulin assembled into spindle microtubules is relatively constant; the rate of tubulin association equals the rate of dissociation. To measure the intrinsic rate of dissociation, we microinjected high concentrations of colchicine, or its derivative colcemid, into sea urchin embryos at metaphase to bind the free tubulin, thereby rapidly blocking polymerization. The rate of microtubule disassembly was measured from a calibrated video signal by the change in birefringent retardation (BR). After an initial delay after injection of colchicine or colcemid at final intracellular concentrations of 0.1-3.0 mM, BR decreased rapidly and simultaneously throughout the central spindle and aster. Measured BR in the central half-spindle decreased exponentially to 10% of its initial value within a characteristic period of approximately 20 s; the rate constant, k = 0.11 +/- 0.023 s-1, and the corresponding half-time, t 1/2, of BR decay was approximately 6.5 +/- 1.1 s in this concentration range. Below 0.1 mM colchicine or colcemid, the rate at which BR decreased was concentration dependent. Electron micrographs showed that the rapid decrease in BR corresponded to the disappearance of nonkinetochore microtubules; kinetochore fiber microtubules were differentially stable. As a control, lumicolchicine, which does not bind to tubulin with high affinity, was shown to have no effect on spindle BR at intracellular concentrations of 0.5 mM. If colchicine and colcemid block only polymerization, then the initial rate of tubulin dissociation from nonkinetochore spindle microtubules is in the range of 180-992 dimers per second. This range of rates is based on k = 11% of the initial polymer per second and an estimate from electron micrographs that the average length of a half-spindle microtubule is 1-5.5 micron. Much slower rates of tubulin association are predicted from the characteristics of end-dependent microtubule assembly measured previously in vitro when the association rate constant is corrected for the lower rate of tubulin diffusion in the embryo cytoplasm. Various possibilities for this discrepancy are discussed.


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