Nuclear Fission without Microtubules—a Return to the Past 英文参考文献.docVIP

Synopsis NuclearFissionwithoutMicrotubules—aReturntothe Past? KiraHeller* FreelanceScienceWriter,Oakland,California,UnitedStatesofAmerica One of the most familiar images in biology, even to high school students taking an introductory course, is that of newly duplicated chromosomes lined up alongthecenterofacellatthestageofcell division called metaphase. As the cell enters anaphase, microtubules, rod-like filaments that comprise the mitotic spin- dle,pullthechromosomesawayfromone another to opposite sides of the cell. The fission, could produce two clusters of segregated chromosomes, each encapsu- latedwithinanuclearmembrane. Tofurtherinvestigatetheconditionsin which nuclear fission can occur, the authors used a variety of genetic tools and protein markers. They found that, unlike normal mitosis, nuclear fission was notunderspindlecheckpointcontrol;even though the absence of microtubules acti- vated the spindle checkpoint, mitosis was only slightly delayed, and the nucleus proceededtodivide.Theyalsodetermined thatseparation ofsister chromatids (iden- tical strands of a replicated chromo- some connected by a structure called the centromere) was required for nuclear fissiontooccur,andthatthecentromeres of chromosomes remained clustered with the spindle pole bodies during nuclear fission. Using a drug that depolymerizes the cytoskeletal protein actin, they found that nuclear fission requires filamentous actin.Actinstructuresmaybeinvolvedin the nuclear membrane redistribution that occurs in anaphase, and rapid redistribu- tion facilitated by actin could be respon- sible for the ruffled appearance that the nuclearmembraneacquiresduringfission. Takingalloftheirresultsintoconsider- ation, the authors suggest a possible mechanism for this microtubule-indepen- dentcelldivisionprocess:atthebeginning ofmitosis,ratherthanliningupatthecell center,thesisterchromatids,connectedby theircentromeres,remainassociatedwith the two spindle pole bodies. The spindle polebodiest