Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Cell division

Hold on and let go

Nature volume 517, pages 441–442 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

The discovery and functional analysis of the protein MEIKIN in mice leads to an evolutionarily conserved model of how chromosome segregation is regulated during a specialized type of cell division called meiosis I. See Article p.466

The movements of sister chromosomes during cell division can be compared to those of figure skaters on an ice rink. During most divisions, a pair of skaters stand back-to-back at the centre of the ice and, as the music starts, skate away from each other, separating forever. In a division that leads to the production of eggs or sperm, however, the two skaters stand side-by-side, back-to-back with another couple. Each couple holds hands as the two teams separate, and the skaters make their way across the ice together. Letting go of a partner too early could result in abnormal chromosome segregation and infertility, but the mechanisms that encourage chromosomes to hold on and separate together in this setting have long been a mystery. In this issue, Kim et al.1 (page 466) identify the first key regulator of this process in mammals, illuminating a molecular pathway that seems to be evolutionarily conserved from yeast to humans.

Your institute does not have access to this article

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Chromosome orientation in mitosis and meiosis.

References

  1. Kim, J. et al. Nature 517, 466–471 (2015).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Tóth, A. et al. Cell 103, 1155–1168 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Lee, B. H., Kiburz, B. M. & Amon, A. Curr. Biol. 14, 2168–2182 (2004).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Katis, V. L. et al. Curr. Biol. 14, 2183–2196 (2004).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Yokobayashi, S. & Watanabe, Y. Cell 123, 803–817 (2005).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Tanaka, K., Chang, H. L., Kagami, A. & Watanabe, Y. Dev. Cell 17, 334–343 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Murdoch, B. et al. PLoS Genet. 9, e1003241 (2013).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Woods, L. M. et al. J. Cell Biol. 145, 1395–1406 (1999).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Tachibana-Konwalski, K. et al. Curr. Biol. 23, 2534–2539 (2013).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Lee, B. H. & Amon, A. Science 300, 482–486 (2003).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Katis, V. L. et al. Dev. Cell 18, 397–409 (2010).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kikuë Tachibana-Konwalski is at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), 1030 Vienna, Austria.,

    Kikuë Tachibana-Konwalski

Authors
  1. Kikuë Tachibana-Konwalski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kikuë Tachibana-Konwalski.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tachibana-Konwalski, K. Hold on and let go. Nature 517, 441–442 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14087

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14087

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing