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A cytokinesis checkpoint requiring the yeast homologue of an APC-binding protein

Abstract

Checkpoint controls ensure that events of the cell-division cycle are completed with fidelity and in the correct order. In budding yeast with a mutation in the motor protein dynein, the mitotic spindle is often misaligned and therefore slow to enter the neck between mother cell and budding daughter cell. When this occurs, cytokinesis (division of the cytoplasm into two) is delayed until the spindle is properly positioned1. Here we describe mutations that abolish this delay, indicating the existence of a new checkpoint mechanism. One mutation lies in the gene encoding the yeast homologue of EB1, a human protein that binds the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) protein, a tumour suppressor. EB1 is located on microtubules of the mitotic spindle and is important in spindle assembly. EB1 may therefore, by associating with microtubules, contribute to the sensor mechanism that activates the checkpoint. Another mutation affects Stt4, a phosphatidylinositol-4-OH kinase. Cold temperature is an environmental stimulus that causes misalignment of the mitotic spindle in yeast and appears to activate this checkpoint mechanism.

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Figure 1: Movie assay for cell-cycle delay.
Figure 2: Synchronized cell assay for cell-cycle delay.
Figure 3: Spindle formation and elongation.
Figure 4: Effect of cold temperature on nuclear segregation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. Hardy, J. Haseloff, M. Johnston, A. Murray, A. Straight, D. Lew, M. A. Hoyt and M.Rose for strains and plasmids; and T. Karpova, K. Blumer, C. Hardy, R. Heil-Chapdelaine, A.Murray, S.Wente and M. Winey for advice and discussion. This work was supported by grants from the NIH. N.R.A. is a recipient of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada postdoctoral fellowship. J.A.C. is an established investigator of the American Heart Association.

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Correspondence to John A. Cooper.

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Muhua, L., Adames, N., Murphy, M. et al. A cytokinesis checkpoint requiring the yeast homologue of an APC-binding protein. Nature 393, 487–491 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/31014

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