Brief Communication abstract
Nature Cell Biology 3, 933 - 938 (2001)
Published online: 12 September 2001 | doi:10.1038/ncb1001-933
Drosophila APC2 and Armadillo participate in tethering mitotic spindles to cortical actin
Brooke M. McCartney1,2, Donald G. McEwen1,2, Elizabeth Grevengoed3, Paul Maddox1, Amy Bejsovec4 & Mark Peifer1,2,3
Proper positioning of mitotic spindles ensures equal allocation of chromosomes to daughter cells. This often involves interactions between spindle and astral microtubules and cortical actin1. In yeast and Caenorhabditis elegans, some of the protein machinery that connects spindles and cortex has been identified but, in most animal cells, this process remains mysterious. Here, we report that the tumour suppresser homologue APC2 and its binding partner Armadillo both play roles in spindle anchoring during the syncytial mitoses of early Drosophila embryos. Armadillo, 
-catenin and APC2 all localize to sites of cortical spindle attachment. APC2–Armadillo complexes often localize with interphase microtubules. Zeste-white 3 kinase, which can phosphorylate Armadillo and APC, is also crucial for spindle positioning and regulates the localization of APC2–Armadillo complexes. Together, these data suggest that APC2, Armadillo and -catenin provide an important link between spindles and cortical actin, and that this link is regulated by Zeste-white 3 kinase.
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280, USA
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280, USA
- Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-1000, USA
Correspondence to: Mark Peifer1,2,3 e-mail: peifer@unc.edu
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