Article abstract
Nature Cell Biology 4, 871 - 879 (2002)
Published online: 21 October 2002 | doi:10.1038/ncb870
Chromosome-induced microtubule assembly mediated by TPX2 is required for spindle formation in HeLa cells
Oliver J. Gruss1,4, Malte Wittmann1,4,3, Hideki Yokoyama1, Rainer Pepperkok1, Thomas Kufer2, Herman Silljé2, Eric Karsenti1, Iain W. Mattaj1 & Isabelle Vernos1
Abstract
In Xenopus laevis egg extracts, TPX2 is required for the Ran-GTP-dependent assembly of microtubules around chromosomes. Here we show that interfering with the function of the human homologue of TPX2 in HeLa cells causes defects in microtubule organization during mitosis. Suppressing the expression of human TPX2 by RNA interference leads to the formation of two microtubule asters that do not interact and do not form a spindle. Our results suggest that in vivo, even in the presence of duplicated centrosomes, spindle formation requires the function of TPX2 to generate a stable bipolar spindle with overlapping antiparallel microtubule arrays. This indicates that chromosome-induced microtubule production is a general requirement for the formation of functional spindles in animal cells.
- EMBL, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69 117 Heidelberg, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry, Department of Cell Biology, Am Klopferspitz 18a, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
- Current address: Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie, Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- These authors contributed equally to this work
Correspondence to: Isabelle Vernos1 e-mail: vernos@EMBL-Heidelberg.de
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