Burroughs, Nigel John, Harry, Edward and McAinsh, Andrew D. (2015) Super-resolution kinetochore tracking reveals the mechanisms of human sister kinetochore directional switching. eLife, 4 . e09500. doi:10.7554/eLife.09500 ISSN 2050-084X.

PDF WRAP_040 Burroughs%2C Harry-2015.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (4Mb)

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

The congression of chromosomes to the spindle equator involves the directed motility of bi-orientated sister kinetochores. Sister kinetochores bind bundles of dynamic microtubules and are physically connected through centromeric chromatin. A crucial question is to understand how sister kinetochores are coordinated to generate motility and directional switches. Here, we combine super-resolution tracking of kinetochores with automated switching-point detection to analyse sister switching dynamics over thousands of events. We discover that switching is initiated by both the leading (microtubules depolymerising) or trailing (microtubules polymerising) kinetochore. Surprisingly, trail-driven switching generates an overstretch of the chromatin that relaxes over the following half-period. This rules out the involvement of a tension sensor, the central premise of the long-standing tension-model. Instead, our data support a model in which clocks set the intrinsic-switching time of the two kinetochore-attached microtubule fibres, with the centromeric spring tension operating as a feedback to slow or accelerate the clocks.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Biomedical Sciences > Cell & Developmental Biology Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Biomedical Sciences Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Spindle (Cell division), Microtubules, Chromatin, Centromere, Chromosomes
Journal or Publication Title:	eLife
Publisher:	eLife Sciences Publications Ltd.
ISSN:	2050-084X
Official Date:	13 October 2015
Dates:	Date Event 13 October 2015 Published 13 October 2015 Accepted 18 June 2015 Submitted
Volume:	4
Article Number:	e09500
DOI:	10.7554/eLife.09500
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Funder:	Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Great Britain) (BBSRC), Wellcome Trust (London, England)
Grant number:	BB/I021353/1 (BBSRC) 106151/Z/14/Z (Wellcome Trust)

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads