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Published online August 18, 2008
doi:10.1083/jcb.200801105
The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 182, No. 4, 631-639
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $30.00
© 2008 Yang et al.
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Regional variation of microtubule flux reveals microtubule organization in the metaphase meiotic spindle



Ge Yang1, Lisa A. Cameron2, Paul S. Maddox2, Edward D. Salmon2, and Gaudenz Danuser1

1 Department of Cell Biology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
2 Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Correspondence to Edward D. Salmon: tsalmon{at}email.unc.edu; or Gaudenz Danuser: gdanuser{at}scripps.edu

Continuous poleward movement of tubulin is a hallmark of metaphase spindle dynamics in higher eukaryotic cells and is essential for stable spindle architecture and reliable chromosome segregation. We use quantitative fluorescent speckle microscopy to map with high resolution the spatial organization of microtubule flux in Xenopus laevis egg extract meiotic spindles. We find that the flux velocity decreases near spindle poles by ~20%. The regional variation is independent of functional kinetochores and centrosomes and is suppressed by inhibition of dynein/dynactin, kinesin-5, or both. Statistical analysis reveals that tubulin flows in two distinct velocity modes. We propose an association of these modes with two architecturally distinct yet spatially overlapping and dynamically cross-linked arrays of microtubules: focused polar microtubule arrays of a uniform polarity and slower flux velocities are interconnected by a dense barrel-like microtubule array of antiparallel polarities and faster flux velocities.

G. Yang and L.A. Cameron contributed equally to this paper.

P.S. Maddox's present address is Dept. of Pathology and Cell Biology, University of Montreal, Montreal QC H3C 3J7, Canada.

Abbreviations used in this paper: BIC, Bayesian information criterion; FSM, fluorescent speckle microscopy.

© 2008 Yang et al. This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.jcb.org/misc/terms.shtml). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).


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