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Polewards chromosome movement driven by microtubule depolymerization in vitro

Nature volume 331, pages 499–504 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

We constructed complexes between isolated chromosomes and microtubules made from purified tubulin to study the movement of chromosomes towards the 'minus' end of microtubules in vitro, a process analogous to the movement of chromosomes towards the pole of the spindle at anaphase of mitosis. Our results show that the energy for this movement is derived solely from microtubule depolymerization, and indicate that anaphase movement of chromosomes is both powered and regulated by microtubule depolymerization at the kinetochore.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Douglas E. Koshland

    Present address: Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, Maryland, 21210, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA

    Douglas E. Koshland & Marc W. Kirschner

  2. Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA

    T. J. Mitchison

Authors
  1. Douglas E. Koshland
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  2. T. J. Mitchison
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  3. Marc W. Kirschner
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Koshland, D., Mitchison, T. & Kirschner, M. Polewards chromosome movement driven by microtubule depolymerization in vitro. Nature 331, 499–504 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/331499a0

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