Molecular Biology of the Cell click for CBE Life Science Education Page

Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Originally published as MBC in Press, 10.1091/mbc.E08-09-0985 on January 21, 2009

Vol. 20, Issue 6, 1639-1651, March 15, 2009

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental Materials
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
E08-09-0985v1
20/6/1639    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rizk, R. S.
Right arrow Articles by Walczak, C. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rizk, R. S.
Right arrow Articles by Walczak, C. E.

MCAK and Paclitaxel Have Differential Effects on Spindle Microtubule Organization and Dynamics

Rania S. Rizk*, Kevin P. Bohannon*,{dagger}, Laura A. Wetzel*, James Powers*, Sidney L. Shaw*, and Claire E. Walczak{ddagger}

*Department of Biology and {ddagger}Medical Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405

Submitted October 1, 2008; Revised December 5, 2008; Accepted January 8, 2009
Monitoring Editor: Tim Stearns

Within the mitotic spindle, there are multiple populations of microtubules with different turnover dynamics, but how these different dynamics are maintained is not fully understood. MCAK is a member of the kinesin-13 family of microtubule-destabilizing enzymes that is required for proper establishment and maintenance of the spindle. Using quantitative immunofluorescence and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, we compared the differences in spindle organization caused by global suppression of microtubule dynamics, by treating cells with low levels of paclitaxel, versus specific perturbation of spindle microtubule subsets by MCAK inhibition. Paclitaxel treatment caused a disruption in spindle microtubule organization marked by a significant increase in microtubules near the poles and a reduction in K-fiber fluorescence intensity. This was correlated with a faster t1/2 of both spindle and K-fiber microtubules. In contrast, MCAK inhibition caused a dramatic reorganization of spindle microtubules with a significant increase in astral microtubules and reduction in K-fiber fluorescence intensity, which correlated with a slower t1/2 of K-fibers but no change in the t1/2 of spindle microtubules. Our data support the model that MCAK perturbs spindle organization by acting preferentially on a subset of microtubules, and they support the overall hypothesis that microtubule dynamics is differentially regulated in the spindle.

This article was published online ahead of print in MBC in Press (http://www.molbiolcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1091/mbc.E08-09-0985) on January 21, 2009.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611.

Address correspondence to: Claire Walczak (cwalczak{at}indiana.edu)






Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Copyright © 2009 by The American Society for Cell Biology. Terms of copyright protection, warranties, and disclaimers.