QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online May 14, 2007

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Centralspindlin ploughs the furrow

At the final stage of cell division, an actin-myosin ring forms around the cortex of the cell, which constricts to form a cleavage furrow and pinch the cell in two. What signals initiate and position the cleavage furrow? In nematodes, two signals seem to be important – one from the microtubule asters (the radial arrays of microtubules emanating from the centrosomes), and one from the spindle midzone (where microtubules from opposite poles overlap). On p. 1772, Koen Verbrugghe and John White describe a new model for how the cleavage furrow is positioned. An important player is the centralspindlin complex, which was previously thought not to be needed for furrow formation, only for the completion of cytokinesis. Now, Verbrugghe and White show that centralspindlin localises to the furrow and find that furrowing fails to occur when centralspindlin is missing along with two proteins involved in spindle elongation: PAR-2 and trimeric G-protein G. The researchers argue that the stability of the midzone microtubules is crucial for furrow formation. Since PAR-2 is thought to affect microtubule stability at the cortex, they propose that PAR-2 and centralspindlin act redundantly to stabilise microtubules in this region.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JCS:

Cortical centralspindlin and G have parallel roles in furrow initiation in early C. elegans embryos

Koen J. C. Verbrugghe and John G. White
JCS 2007 120: 1772-1778. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?