Article
Genetics & Heredity
Sara M. Fielder, Tori Kent, Huiping Ling, Elizabeth J. Gleason, William G. Kelly
Summary: The study investigated the role of the dynein motor complex in homolog pairing in Caenorhabditis elegans. Depletion of dynein light chain (DLC-1) may prevent complete homolog synapsis and lead to abnormal aggregation of SC proteins. Results suggest that DLC-1 may act as a pre-synapsis chaperone-like factor for SYP proteins to regulate their self-association.
Article
Biology
Nicolas Macaisne, Laura Bellutti, Kimberley Laband, Frances Edwards, Laras Pitayu-Nugroho, Alison Gervais, Thadshagine Ganeswaran, Helene Geoffroy, Gilliane Maton, Julie C. Canman, Benjamin Lacroix, Julien Dumont
Summary: During cell division, the microtubule-based spindle plays a crucial role in chromosome segregation. The interaction between spindle microtubules and kinetochores is essential for the proper alignment and segregation of chromosomes. This study focuses on a kinetochore module called the BHC module, which consists of BUB-1, HCP-1/2, and CLS-2, and shows that it stabilizes microtubules, promoting spindle formation and accurate chromosome segregation.
Article
Cell Biology
Shrividya Sana, Ashwathi Rajeevan, Sachin Kotak
Summary: The exclusive localization of NuMA and Ect2/Cyk4/Mklp1 ensures the coordination of spindle elongation and cleavage furrow formation. This coordination is achieved by restricting dynein/dynactin and RhoA to distinct membrane zones.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Cong Ma, Zhuonan Yang, Shouxin Zhang, Xueke Zhang, Siyuan Wang, Huiru Cheng, Yang Liu, Hongzhen Ruan, Zuying Xu, Chunmei Liang, Dan Liang, Zhiming Ding, Yajing Liu, Yunxia Cao
Summary: CBZ exposure negatively affects the maturation of mouse oocytes, leading to disruptions in polar body extrusion, cell cycle distribution, spindle assembly, chromosomal alignment, and kinetochore microtubule attachment.
FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ikumi Fujita, Akatsuki Kimura, Akira Yamashita
Summary: In this study, it was found that fission yeast undergoes premeiotic nuclear oscillation, which is dependent on microtubules and is driven by cytoplasmic dynein. The oscillation frequency is cell length-dependent and is controlled by a balance between microtubule and viscous drag forces, as well as microtubule dynamics. These findings provide a basis for understanding the physical properties of microtubule-dependent nuclear movements.
Article
Biology
Gabriel Cavin-Meza, Michelle M. Kwan, Sarah M. Wignall
Summary: Multiple motors work synchronously to establish and maintain the bipolarity of oocyte spindles in the absence of centrosomes.
Article
Biology
Ken Fujii, Tomo Kondo, Akatsuki Kimura
Summary: This study characterized the spacing activity of centrosomes and found that timely spacing depends on cytoplasmic dynein. A stoichiometric model of cortical and cytoplasmic pulling forces for centrosome spacing was proposed. The study also observed dynein-independent movement of centrosomes.
LIFE SCIENCE ALLIANCE
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Longcan Cheng, Jingchen Li, Houbo Sun, Hongyuan Jiang
Summary: Multipolar spindles are more common in tumors than in normal tissues, possibly due to the mechanical confinements caused by overcrowding microenvironments in tumors. However, the difference between mechanical confinements in normal tissues and tumor tissues and their effects on multipolarity and chromosome segregation are poorly understood. In this study, the researchers use microchannels to mimic different forms of mechanical constraints within tissue architecture and found that the form of three-dimensional mechanical confinement determines the occurrence of multipolar spindles. Further investigations show that mechanical confinement controls cell shape and pole-cortex interactions, which affect the energy barriers and probability of multipolar mitosis. These findings highlight the importance of extracellular microenvironments and tissue architecture in regulating cellular behaviors and suggest potential targets for cancer therapies.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Albert W. Hinman, Hsin-Yi Yeh, Baptiste Roelens, Kei Yamaya, Alexander Woglar, Henri-Marc G. Bourbon, Peter Chi, Anne M. Villeneuve
Summary: Meiotic recombination plays essential roles in genetic diversity and genome inheritance, with DSB-3 identified as a protein promoting DSB formation in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. DSB-3 is interdependent with other DSB proteins and its localization supports its role as a homolog of MEI4 in conserved DSB-promoting complexes. Variations in meiotic programs across diverse organisms may contribute to the diversification of essential meiotic machinery components.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Baronger Dowell Bieger, Aysha H. Osmani, Xin Xiang, Martin J. Egan
Summary: Data presented here demonstrate that the localization of activated dynein at spindle pole bodies is cell cycle-dependent, with dynein signals associating with nuclei in early G1 but disappearing around the G1-S boundary.
FUNGAL GENETICS AND BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Julia A. Loose, Francis R. G. Amrit, Thayjas Patil, Judith L. Yanowitz, Arjumand Ghazi
Summary: Reproductive health impacts organismal aging, but the effect of germline integrity on somatic aging is poorly understood. This study shows that disruption of meiosis, a germline restricted process, accelerates somatic aging in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mutants with meiosis dysfunction exhibit transcriptional profiles similar to old worms and aging human tissues. The study also reveals that inactivation of longevity determinants increased the lifespan of normal animals.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jiyeon Leem, Seul Kim, Jae-Sung Kim, Jeong Su Oh
Summary: In this study, the effects of exposure to 9,10-phenanthrenequinone (9,10-PQ) were investigated using mouse oocytes as a model system. It was found that 9,10-PQ compromised meiotic maturation by impairing the assembly of the microtubule organizing center and subsequent spindle formation. Additionally, 9,10-PQ exposure inhibited cell cycle progression by disrupting the accumulation of cyclin B1 and the activation of Cdk1. Importantly, the meiotic defects induced by 9,10-PQ were not rescued by decreasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, indicating that 9,10-PQ has ROS-independent activity in regulating cell cycle progression and spindle assembly.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Helder Rocha, Patricia A. Simoes, Jacqueline Budrewicz, Pablo Lara-Gonzalez, Ana Xavier Carvalho, Julien Dumont, Arshad Desai, Reto Gassmann
Summary: This study demonstrates that PP4 protein phosphatase is a crucial factor for robust assembly of the microtubule-coupling outer kinetochore prior to nuclear envelope breakdown in mitotic cells. Absence of PP4 leads to extended monopolar orientation of chromosomes after nuclear envelope breakdown and subsequent mis-segregation. Defective sister chromatid resolution is also observed due to diminished outer kinetochore assembly.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Hai-Yin Wu, Gokberk Kabacaoglu, Ehssan Nazockdast, Huan-Cheng Chang, Michael J. Shelley, Daniel J. Needleman
Summary: This article introduces two methods for studying subcellular dynamics, one using laser ablation and the other assessing fluid flow. It is found that cortical pulling forces can explain various behaviors of centrosomes.
Article
Cell Biology
Cecilia S. Blengini, Alexandra L. Nguyen, Mansour Aboelenain, Karen Schindler
Summary: Advanced maternal age leads to an increase in meiotic chromosome segregation errors, resulting in early miscarriages and congenital disorders; The integrity of the spindle assembly checkpoint decreases rapidly with maternal age, contributing to increased chromosome segregation errors; AURKB may play a novel protective role in preserving female reproductive lifespan by safeguarding oocytes from oxidative stress.
Article
Cell Biology
Marina E. Crowder, Jonathan R. Flynn, Karen P. McNally, Daniel B. Cortes, Kari L. Price, Paul A. Kuehnert, Michelle T. Panzica, Armann Andaya, Julie A. Leary, Francis J. McNally
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE CELL
(2015)
Article
Cell Biology
Karen Perry McNally, Michelle T. Panzica, Taekyung Kim, Daniel B. Cortes, Francis J. McNally
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE CELL
(2016)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Elizabeth Vargas, Karen McNally, Jacob A. Friedman, Daniel B. Cortes, David Y. Wang, Ian F. Korf, Francis J. McNally
Article
Cell Biology
Michelle T. Panzica, Harold C. Marin, Anne-Cecile Reymann, Francis J. McNally
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2017)
Article
Cell Biology
Jonathan R. Flynn, Francis J. McNally
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE CELL
(2017)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Francis J. McNally
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Elizabeth Vargas, Karen McNally, Jacob A. Friedman, Daniel B. Cortes, David Y. Wang, Ian F. Korf, Francis J. McNally
Review
Cell Biology
Michelle T. Panzica, Francis J. McNally
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Stanley Nithianantham, Francis J. McNally, Jawdat Al-Bassam
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2018)
Review
Cell Biology
Francis J. McNally, Antonina Roll-Mecak
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Developmental Biology
Elizabeth Vargas, Karen P. McNally, Daniel B. Cortes, Michelle T. Panzica, Brennan M. Danlasky, Qianyan Li, Amy Shaub Maddox, Francis J. McNally
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Franco L. Lombino, Mary Muhia, Jeffrey Lopez-Rojas, Monika S. Brill, Edda Thies, Laura Ruschkies, David Lutz, Melanie Richter, Torben J. Hausrat, Andre T. Lopes, Francis J. McNally, Irm Hermans-Borgmeyer, Jessica E. M. Dunleavy, Sabine Hoffmeister-Ullerich, Michael Frotscher, Thomas Misgeld, Michael R. Kreutz, Froylan Calderon de Anda, Matthias Kneussel
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2019)
Article
Cell Biology
Brennan M. Danlasky, Michelle T. Panzica, Karen P. McNally, Elizabeth Vargas, Cynthia Bailey, Wenzhe Li, Ting Gong, Elizabeth S. Fishman, Xueer Jiang, Francis J. McNally
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Karen P. McNally, Elizabeth A. Beath, Brennan M. Danlasky, Consuelo Barroso, Ting Gong, Wenzhe Li, Enrique Martinez-Perez, Francis J. McNally
Summary: Accurate chromosome segregation during meiosis requires both cohesion between chromosomes and the formation of a bipolar spindle. In this study, the researchers investigated whether the bipolar structure of C. elegans meiotic chromosomes is necessary for spindle polarity in the absence of cohesion. They found that while a mutant lacking cohesion formed an apolar spindle, a mutant with residual non-cohesive cohesin formed a bipolar spindle. The results suggest that cohesin is essential for spindle assembly and chromosome segregation independent of its role in sister chromatid cohesion.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Ting Gong, Francis J. McNally
Summary: Errors in chromosome segregation during meiosis are a major cause of aneuploidy. Crossovers are crucial for accurate chromosome alignment and partitioning, as they hold homologous chromosomes together. However, Caenorhabditis elegans zim-2 mutants with crossover defects on chromosome V have fewer dead embryos than expected, especially in males. This discrepancy can be explained by the presence of redundant mechanisms to compensate for crossover loss, a higher production of euploid gametes, and the viability and fertility of trisomy of chromosome V. Additionally, live imaging showed that univalents can segregate independently of homology.