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Msps protein is localized to acentrosomal poles to ensure bipolarity of Drosophila meiotic spindles

Nature Cell Biology volume 3, pages 637–642 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

The female meiotic spindle is commonly formed in a centrosome-independent manner. Here we report the identification of proteins at acentrosomal poles in the female meiotic spindle of Drosophila. The acentrosomal poles contain at least two proteins, Mini-spindles (Msps) and D-TACC, which are also associated with mitotic centrosomes. These proteins interact with one another and are both required for maintaining the bipolarity of acentrosomal spindles. The polar localization of Msps is dependent on D-TACC and Ncd, a kinesin-like microtubule motor. We propose that the polar localization of Msps mediated by D-TACC and Ncd may be crucial for the stabilization of meiotic spindle bipolarity.

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Figure 1: Molecular defects in a female sterile allele, mspsMJ208.
Figure 2: Tripolar meiotic spindles in non-activated oocytes from the mspsMJ208 mutant.
Figure 3: Msps and D-TACC localize to the poles of an acentrosomal meiosis I spindle in wild-type oocytes.
Figure 4: D-TACC is required for Msps polar localization and spindle bipolarity.
Figure 5: The Ncd motor is required for the efficient polar localization of Msps.
Figure 6: A proposed model of Msps localization and function in acentrosomal spindles.

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Acknowledgements

We thank I. Davis, K. Sawin, J. Raff and N. Preston for critical reading of the manuscript, and K. Gull and D. Glover for antibodies. We thank members of the Ohkura laboratory for support and encouragement, and J. Raff and members of his laboratory for sharing materials and unpublished results. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust and H.O. received a Wellcome Senior Fellowship for Basic Biomedical Science.

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  1. Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JR, UK

    C. Fiona Cullen & Hiroyuki Ohkura

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  2. Hiroyuki Ohkura
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Correspondence to Hiroyuki Ohkura.

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Cullen, C., Ohkura, H. Msps protein is localized to acentrosomal poles to ensure bipolarity of Drosophila meiotic spindles. Nat Cell Biol 3, 637–642 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35083025

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