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SAS-6 oligomerization: the key to the centriole?

Nature Chemical Biology volume 7, pages 650–653 (2011)Cite this article

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Centrioles are among the most beautiful of biological structures. How their highly conserved nine-fold symmetry is generated is a question that has intrigued cell biologists for decades. Two recent structural studies provide the tantalizing suggestion that the self-organizing properties of the SAS-6 protein hold the answer.

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Figure 1: A schematic view of centrioles and the early stages of centriole duplication.
Figure 2: The architecture and interactions of SAS-6.
Figure 3: An illustration of the distinct SAS-6 oligomer models that can be derived from slightly different dimer orientations observed in the SAS-6 crystal structures.

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  1. Matthew A. Cottee, Jordan W. Raff, Susan M. Lea and Hélio Roque are at The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,

    Matthew A Cottee, Jordan W Raff, Susan M Lea & Hélio Roque

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  1. Matthew A Cottee
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Correspondence to Jordan W Raff.

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Cottee, M., Raff, J., Lea, S. et al. SAS-6 oligomerization: the key to the centriole?. Nat Chem Biol 7, 650–653 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.660

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