Kinesin-5-dependent poleward flux and spindle length control in Drosophila embryo mitosis.

ABSTRACT: We used antibody microinjection and genetic manipulations to dissect the various roles of the homotetrameric kinesin-5, KLP61F, in astral, centrosome-controlled Drosophila embryo spindles and to test the hypothesis that it slides apart interpolar (ip) microtubules (MT), thereby controlling poleward flux and spindle length. In wild-type and Ncd null mutant embryos, anti-KLP61F dissociated the motor from spindles, producing a spatial gradient in the KLP61F content of different spindles, which was visible in KLP61F-GFP transgenic embryos. The resulting mitotic defects, supported by gene dosage experiments and time-lapse microscopy of living klp61f mutants, reveal that, after NEB, KLP61F drives persistent MT bundling and the outward sliding of antiparallel MTs, thereby contributing to several

SUBMITTER: Brust-Mascher I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2655252 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature