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Sliding filaments and mitotic spindle organization

Mitosis depends upon the action of the mitotic spindle, a subcellular machine that uses microtubules (MTs) and motors to assemble itself and to coordinate chromosome segregation. Recent work illuminates how the motor-driven poleward sliding of MTs — nucleated at centrosomes, chromosomes and on pre-existing MTs — contributes to spindle assembly and length control.

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Figure 1: Microtubule nucleation and sliding in the mitotic spindle.
Figure 2: System-specific variation in spindle organization.

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Correspondence to Jonathan M. Scholey.

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Wang, H., Brust-Mascher, I. & Scholey, J. Sliding filaments and mitotic spindle organization. Nat Cell Biol 16, 737–739 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3019

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