Published online
doi:10.1083/jcb.200808130
The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 184, No. 3, 373-381
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $30.00
© Maresca et al.
Intrakinetochore stretch is associated with changes in kinetochore phosphorylation and spindle assembly checkpoint activity
Thomas J. Maresca1,2 and
Edward D. Salmon1,2
1 Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
2 Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Correspondence to Edward D. Salmon: tsalmon{at}email.unc.edu
Cells have evolved a signaling pathway called the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) to increase the fidelity of chromosome segregation by generating a "wait anaphase" signal until all chromosomes are properly aligned within the mitotic spindle. It has been proposed that tension generated by the stretch of the centromeric chromatin of bioriented chromosomes stabilizes kinetochore microtubule attachments and turns off SAC activity. Although biorientation clearly causes stretching of the centromeric chromatin, it is unclear whether the kinetochore is also stretched. To test whether intrakinetochore stretch occurs and is involved in SAC regulation, we developed a Drosophila melanogaster S2 cell line expressing centromere identifier–mCherry and Ndc80–green fluorescent protein to mark the inner and outer kinetochore domains, respectively. We observed stretching within kinetochores of bioriented chromosomes by monitoring both inter- and intrakinetochore distances in live cell assays. This intrakinetochore stretch is largely independent of a 30-fold variation in centromere stretch. Furthermore, loss of intrakinetochore stretch is associated with enhancement of 3F3/2 phosphorylation and SAC activation.
Abbreviations used in this paper: CID, centromere identifier; DHC, dynein heavy chain; dsRNA, double-stranded RNA; Ncd, nonclaret disjunction; SAC, spindle assembly checkpoint.
© 2009 Maresca and Salmon
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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