Letter abstract
Nature Cell Biology 6, 656 - 664 (2004)
Published online: 1 July 2004 | doi:10.1038/ncb1146
Centriolar SAS-5 is required for centrosome duplication in C. elegans
Marie Delattre1, Sebastian Leidel1, Khursheed Wani1,3, Karine Baumer1, Jeannine Bamat1, Heinke Schnabel2,4, Richard Feichtinger2, Ralf Schnabel2 & Pierre Gönczy1
Centrosomes, the major microtubule-organizing centres (MTOCs) of animal cells, are comprised of a pair of centrioles surrounded by pericentriolar material (PCM). Early in the cell cycle, there is a single centrosome, which duplicates during S-phase to direct bipolar spindle assembly during mitosis1. Although crucial for proper cell division, the mechanisms that govern centrosome duplication are not fully understood. Here, we identify the Caenorhabditis elegans gene sas-5 as essential for daughter-centriole formation. SAS-5 is a coiled-coil protein that localizes primarily to centrioles. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiments with green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to SAS-5 (GFP–SAS-5) demonstrated that the protein shuttles between centrioles and the cytoplasm throughout the cell cycle. Analysis of mutant alleles revealed that the presence of SAS-5 at centrioles is crucial for daughter-centriole formation and that ZYG-1, a kinase that is also essential for this process2, controls the distribution of SAS-5 to centrioles. Furthermore, partial RNA-interference (RNAi)-mediated inactivation experiments suggest that both sas-5 and zyg-1 are dose-dependent regulators of centrosome duplication.
- Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), CH-1066 Epalinges/Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Institut für Genetik, TU Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
- Present address: Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Charlestown, MA 02129 USA.
- Present address: Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsreid, Germany.
Correspondence to: Pierre Gönczy1 e-mail: pierre.gonczy@isrec.unil.ch
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