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Msps/XMAP215 interacts with the centrosomal protein D-TACC to regulate microtubule behaviour

Nature Cell Biology volume 3, pages 643–649 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

The XMAP215/ch-TOG/Msps family of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) promote microtubule growth in vitro and are concentrated at centrosomes in vivo. We show here that Msps (mini-spindles protein) interacts with the centrosomal protein D-TACC, and that this interaction strongly influences microtubule behaviour in Drosophila embryos. If D-TACC levels are reduced, Msps does not concentrate at the centrosomes efficiently and the centrosomal microtubules appear to be destabilized. If D-TACC levels are increased, both D-TACC and Msps accumulate around the centrosomes/spindle poles, and the centrosomal microtubules appear to be stabilized. We show that the interaction between D-TACC and Msps is evolutionarily conserved. We propose that D-TACC and Msps normally cooperate to stabilize centrosomal microtubules by binding to their minus ends and binding to their plus ends as they grow out from the centrosome.

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Figure 1: Interaction between D-TACC and Msps.
Figure 2: Localization of D-TACC and Msps in embryos containing different amounts of D-TACC.
Figure 3: The human TACC proteins can bind to ch-TOG.
Figure 4: The GST–TD fusion protein seems to stabilize microtubules in Drosophila embryos in an Msps-dependent manner.
Figure 5: The behaviour of D-TACC–GFP or Msps–GFP in living embryos.
Figure 6: A model of how D-TACC and Msps might cooperate to stabilize centrosomal microtubules.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Ohkura and F. Cullen for sharing results before publication and for supplying anti-Msps anti-serum and the mspsMJ15 allele. We thank B. Williams and M. Goldberg who provided us with their unpublished d-taccstella alleles. We also thank T. Hyman and D. Compton for providing us with anti-ch-TOG antibodies, and J. Kilmartin for advice about sample preparation for mass spectroscopy. We thank members of the laboratory for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship in Basic Biomedical Sciences (to J.W.R.), an MRC studentship (to M.J.L.), a Wellcome Trust Prize Studentship (to F.G.) and the Medical Research Council (S.Y.P.-C.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Wellcome/CRC Institute, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QR, UK

    Michael J. Lee, Fanni Gergely, Kim Jeffers & Jordan W. Raff

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Medical Research Council, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2QH, UK

    Sew Yeu Peak-Chew

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  1. Michael J. Lee
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  2. Fanni Gergely
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  5. Jordan W. Raff
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jordan W. Raff.

Supplementary information

Movie 1

The behaviour of a D-TACC–GFP fusion protein in a living embryo. Note how small dots of the fusion protein can be observed oscillating to and fro from the centrosomal region, as though binding to the plus ends of the centrosomal microtubules. (MOV 7992 kb)

Movie 2

The behaviour of a Msps–GFP fusion protein in a living embryo. Note how small dots of the fusion protein can be observed oscillating to and fro from the centrosomal region, as though binding to the plus ends of the centrosomal microtubules. (MOV 3252 kb)

Figure S1

The behaviour of D–TACC (top left panel), Msps (bottom left panel), microtubules (middle panel) and DNA (right panel) in embryos treated with taxol before fixation. (PDF 288 kb)

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Lee, M., Gergely, F., Jeffers, K. et al. Msps/XMAP215 interacts with the centrosomal protein D-TACC to regulate microtubule behaviour. Nat Cell Biol 3, 643–649 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35083033

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