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MBC in Press, published online ahead of print October 17, 2007
Mol. Biol. Cell 10.1091/mbc.E07-05-0468

A more recent version of this article appeared on December 1, 2007
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Submitted on May 18, 2007
Revised on September 21, 2007
Accepted on October 5, 2007

Cooperative Assembly of CYK-4/MgcRacGAP and ZEN-4/MKLP1 to Form the Centralspindlin Complex

Visnja Pavicic-Kaltenbrunner,* Masanori Mishima,{dagger} and Michael Glotzer*

*Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; {dagger}Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QN, United Kingdom

Monitoring Editor: Kerry Bloom

Cytokinesis in metazoan cells requires a set of antiparallel microtubules that become bundled upon anaphase onset to form a structure known as the central spindle. Bundling of these microtubules requires a protein complex, centralspindlin, that consists of the CYK-4/MgcRacGAP Rho-family GAP and the ZEN-4/MKLP1 kinesin-6 motor protein. Centralspindlin, but not its individual subunits, is sufficient to bundle microtubules in vitro. Here we present a biochemical and genetic dissection of centralspindlin. We show that each of the two subunits of centralspindlin dimerize via a parallel coiled coil. The two homodimers assemble into a high-affinity heterotetrameric complex by virtue of two low affinity interactions. Conditional mutations in the regions that mediate complex assembly can be readily suppressed by numerous second site mutations in the interacting regions. This unexpected plasticity explains the lack of primary sequence conservation of the regions critical for this essential protein-protein interaction.

Address correspondence to: Michael Glotzer (mglotzer{at}uchicago.edu)






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