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Cell cycle

Passenger acrobatics

Nature volume 426, pages 780–781 (2003)Cite this article

Chromosomal passenger proteins undergo spectacular changes in localization during cell division. We now have molecular insight into how and why these changes occur.

The first protein3 found to display such striking changes in localization during mitosis was named INCENP, for 'inner centromere protein' — the centromere being the DNA sequence onto which the kinetochore assembles. Two further proteins were later discovered to show a similar localization pattern: aurora B kinase, which regulates the activity of target proteins by transferring phosphate groups onto them, and a protein called survivin (reviewed in ref. 1). It has since become clear that these three proteins together form a stable aurora B kinase complex4. Earlier this year5, a fourth protein showing passenger behaviour was identified and named TD-60. This protein is required to 'recruit' the aurora B kinase complex to kinetochores, and might regulate its activity.

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Figure 1: Moving passengers about.

PAOLA VAGNARELLI & BILL EARNSHAW

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Chromosome Segregation Laboratory, Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX, UK

    Toru Higuchi & Frank Uhlmann

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  1. Toru Higuchi
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  2. Frank Uhlmann
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Correspondence to Frank Uhlmann.

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Higuchi, T., Uhlmann, F. Passenger acrobatics. Nature 426, 780–781 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/426780a

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