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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/2003/5/455-a $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 161, Number 3, 455-a-455

Getting a handle on centrosomes

Centriolin deficiency disrupts cytokinesis.

Centrosomes are required for cytokinesis and are important in cell cycle progression—but how are centrosomes connected to these essential cellular functions at the molecular level? On page 535, Gromley et al. describe the maternal centriole protein centriolin, the first integral centrosome protein linked to both cytokinesis and cell cycle progression in vertebrate cells.

Overexpression, siRNA silencing, or antibody inhibition of centriolin causes an unusual cytokinesis defect, in which cells remain connected by long strands of cytoplasm and form syncytia. Some of the cells later undergo cell cycle arrest in G1/G0, and some undergo apoptosis. The cytokinesis defect is caused by a domain in centriolin that shares homology with yeast regulatory proteins in the MEN/SIN pathway, which controls yeast mitotic exit and cytokinesis.

The results suggest that centriolin links centrosomes to a critical cytokinesis regulatory system and possibly to a cell cycle checkpoint. Screening work is now uncovering additional members of the cytokinesis pathway. Centriolin also contains domains with homology to proteins implicated in human tumorigenesis. Since centrosome defects would cause aneuploidy, a hallmark of cancer, the authors are now trying to determine whether centriolin has oncogenic functions.

Alan W. Dove

alanwdove{at}earthlink.net

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This Article Full Text (PDF, 739K) PPT slides of all figures Alert me when this article is cited Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new content in the JCB Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dove, A. W. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Dove, A. W. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?