Letter abstract
Nature Cell Biology 7, 42 - 47 (2004)
Published online: 12 December 2004 | doi:10.1038/ncb1207
Drosophila CLASP is required for the incorporation of microtubule subunits into fluxing kinetochore fibres
Helder Maiato1, Alexey Khodjakov1,2,3 & Conly L. Rieder1,2,3
The motion of a chromosome during mitosis is mediated by a bundle of microtubules, termed a kinetochore fibre (K-fibre), which connects the kinetochore of the chromosome to a spindle pole. Once formed, mature K-fibres maintain a steady state length because the continuous addition of microtubule subunits onto microtubule plus ends at the kinetochore is balanced by their removal at their minus ends within the pole. This condition is known as 'microtubule poleward flux'1. Chromosome motion and changes in position are then driven by changes in K-fibre length, which in turn are controlled by changes in the rates at which microtubule subunits are added at the kinetochore and/or removed from the pole2. A key to understanding the role of flux in mitosis is to identify the molecular factors that drive it. Here we use Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells expressing 
-tubulin tagged with green fluorescent protein, RNA interference, laser microsurgery and photobleaching to show that the kinetochore protein MAST/Orbit — the single CLASP orthologue in Drosophila — is an essential component for microtubule subunit incorporation into fluxing K-fibres.
- Laboratory of Cell Regulation, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA.
- Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
Correspondence to: Conly L. Rieder1,2,3 e-mail: rieder@wadsworth.org
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
CLASP fluxes its mitotic musclesNature Cell Biology News and Views (01 Jan 2005)
Chromosome movement in vitroNature News and Views (11 Feb 1988)
See all 11 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
Kinetochore fibre dynamics outside the context of the spindle during anaphaseNature Cell Biology Letter (01 Mar 2004)
See all 52 matches for Research
