Loss of the mitochondrial protein SPD-3 elevates PLK-1 levels and dysregulates mitotic events.

ABSTRACT: In metazoans, Polo-like kinase (PLK1) controls several mitotic events including nuclear envelope breakdown, centrosome maturation, spindle assembly and progression through mitosis. Here we show that a mutation in the mitochondria-localized protein SPD-3 affects mitotic events by inducing elevated levels of PLK-1 in early Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. SPD-3 mutant embryos contain abnormally positioned mitotic chromosomes, show a delay in anaphase onset and asymmetrically disassemble the nuclear lamina. We found that more PLK-1 accumulated on centrosomes, nuclear envelope, nucleoplasm, and chromatin before NEBD, suggesting that PLK-1 overexpression is responsible for some of the observed mitotic phenotypes. In agreement with this, the chromosome positioning defects of the spd-3(o

SUBMITTER: Chen YZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10488725 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature