Human kinetochores are swivel joints that mediate microtubule attachments
- University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Abstract
Chromosome segregation is a mechanical process that requires assembly of the mitotic spindle - a dynamic microtubule-based force-generating machine. Connections to this spindle are mediated by sister kinetochore pairs, that form dynamic end-on attachments to microtubules emanating from opposite spindle poles. This bi-orientation generates forces that have been reported to stretch the kinetochore itself, which has been suggested to silence the spindle checkpoint and allow anaphase onset. We reveal using three dimensional tracking that the outer kinetochore domain can swivel around the inner kinetochore/centromere, which results in large reductions in intra-kinetochore distance (delta) when viewed in lower dimensions. We show that swivel provides a mechanical flexibility that enables kinetochores at the periphery of the spindle to engage microtubules. Swivel rather than delta reduces as cells approach anaphase, suggesting an organisational change linked to checkpoint satisfaction and/or obligatory changes in kinetochore mechanochemistry may occur before dissolution of sister chromatid cohesion.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/F500378/1)
- Chris A Smith
Wellcome (106151/Z/14/Z)
- Andrew D McAinsh
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/I021353/1)
- Andrew D McAinsh
- Nigel J Burroughs
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2016, Smith et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 2,338
- views
-
- 703
- downloads
-
- 32
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Download links
A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Human kinetochores are swivel joints that mediate microtubule attachments
eLife 5:e16159.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16159
