Mad1 contribution to spindle assembly checkpoint signalling goes beyond presenting Mad2 at kinetochores

The spindle assembly checkpoint inhibits anaphase until all chromosomes have become attached to the mitotic spindle. A complex between the checkpoint proteins Mad1 and Mad2 provides a platform for Mad2:Mad2 dimerization at unattached kinetochores, which enables Mad2 to delay anaphase. Here, we show that mutations in Bub1 and within the Mad1 C-terminal domain impair the kinetochore localization of Mad1:Mad2 and abrogate checkpoint activity. Artificial kinetochore recruitment of Mad1 in these mutants co-recruits Mad2; however, the checkpoint remains non-functional. We identify specific mutations within the C-terminal head of Mad1 that impair checkpoint activity without affecting the kinetochore localization of Bub1, Mad1 or Mad2. Hence, Mad1 potentially in conjunction with Bub1 has a crucial role in checkpoint signalling in addition to presenting Mad2.

Bub1 and Bub3 promote the conversion from monopolar to bipolar chromosome attachment independently of shugoshin

The eukaryotic spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) delays anaphase in the presence of chromosome attachment errors. Bub3 has been reported to be required for SAC activity in all eukaryotes examined so far. We find that Bub3, unlike its binding partner Bub1, is not essential for the SAC in fission yeast. As Bub3 is needed for the efficient kinetochore localization of Bub1, and of Mad1, Mad2 and Mad3, this implies that most SAC proteins do not need to be enriched at the kinetochores for the SAC to function. We find that Bub3 is also dispensable for shugoshin localization to the centromeres, which is the second known function of Bub1. Instead, Bub3, together with Bub1, has a specific function in promoting the conversion from chromosome mono-orientation to bi-orientation.

Drosophila ankyrin 2 is required for synaptic stability

Synaptic connections are stabilized through transsynaptic adhesion complexes that are anchored in the underlying cytoskeleton. The Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJs) serves as a model system to unravel genes required for the structural remodeling of synapses. In a mutagenesis screen for regulators of synaptic stability, we recovered mutations in Drosophila ankyrin 2 (ank2) affecting two giant Ank2 isoforms that are specifically expressed in the nervous system and associate with the presynaptic membrane cytoskeleton. ank2 mutant larvae show severe deficits in the stability of NMJs, resulting in a reduction in overall terminal size, withdrawal of synaptic boutons, and disassembly of presynaptic active zones. In addition, lack of Ank2 leads to disintegration of the synaptic microtubule cytoskeleton. Microtubules and microtubule-associated proteins fail to extend into distant boutons. Interestingly, Ank2 functions downstream of spectrin in the anchorage of synaptic microtubules, providing the cytoskeletal scaffold that is essential for synaptic stability.

Drosophila MICAL regulates myofilament organization and synaptic structure

The overall size and structure of a synaptic terminal is an important determinant of its function. In a large-scale mutagenesis screen, designed to identify Drosophila mutants with abnormally structured neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), we discovered mutations in Drosophila mical, a conserved gene encoding a multi-domain protein with a N-terminal monooxygenase domain. In mical mutants, synaptic boutons do not sprout normally over the muscle surface and tend to form clusters along synaptic branches and at nerve entry sites. Consistent with high expression of MICAL in somatic muscles, immunohistochemical stainings reveal that the subcellular localization and architecture of contractile muscle filaments are dramatically disturbed in mical mutants. Instead of being integrated into a regular sarcomeric pattern, actin and myosin filaments are disorganized and accumulate beneath the plasmamembrane. Whereas contractile elements are strongly deranged, the proposed organizer of sarcomeric structure, D-Titin, is much less affected. Transgenic expression of interfering RNA molecules demonstrates that MICAL is required in muscles for the higher order arrangement of myofilaments. Ultrastructural analysis confirms that myosin-rich thick filaments enter submembranous regions and interfere with synaptic development, indicating that the disorganized myofilaments may cause the synaptic growth phenotype. As a model, we suggest that the filamentous network around synaptic boutons restrains the spreading of synaptic branches.

Shugoshin enables tension-generating attachment of kinetochores by loading Aurora to centromeres

Fission yeast shugoshin Sgo1 is meiosis specific and cooperates with protein phosphatase 2A to protect centromeric cohesin at meiosis I. The other shugoshin-like protein Sgo2, which requires the heterochromatin protein Swi6/HP1 for full viability, plays a crucial role for proper chromosome segregation at both mitosis and meiosis; however, the underlying mechanisms are totally elusive. We here demonstrate that, unlike Sgo1, Sgo2 is dispensable for centromeric protection of cohesin. Instead, Sgo2 interacts with Bir1/Survivin and promotes Aurora kinase complex localization to the pericentromeric region, to correct erroneous attachment of kinetochores and thereby enable tension-generating attachment. Forced localization of Bir1 to centromeres partly restored the defects of sgo2Delta. This newly identified interaction of shugoshin with Survivin is conserved between mitosis and meiosis and presumably across eukaryotes. We propose that ensuring bipolar attachment of kinetochores is the primary role of shugoshin and the role of cohesion protection might have codeveloped to facilitate this process.

Role of laminin A chain in the development of epithelial cell polarity

Kidney organ culture was used to study the conversion of embryonic mesenchymal cells into a polarized, differentiated kidney epithelium. We examined the expression of laminin, a basement membrane glycoprotein, during this conversion. The B chains of laminin were constitutively expressed, whereas the appearance of the A chain of laminin was dependent on embryonic induction and coincided with the onset of cell polarization. Antisera against the carboxy-terminal end of laminin inhibited polarization but did not affect the developmental events that precede polarization. Antisera against N-terminal parts of laminin failed to inhibit morphogenesis. Since the fragments at the carboxy-terminal end contain parts of the A chain, we suggest that the appearance of this chain is fundamental for initiation of cell polarity.

Neural cell adhesion molecules during embryonic induction and development of the kidney

The neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAM) are a family of related glycoproteins with Mr of 180, 140 and 120 × 10(3) (180K etc.). In the embryo, they are often highly sialylated and migrate as a diffuse band of 170–250K. N-CAM are found in non-neural tissues and we have now studied the expression of N-CAM in the developing mouse kidney. During kidney development, a unique conversion of a mesenchyme to an epithelium occurs and it is thought that this is mediated by an increase in cell adhesivity. By immunofluorescence, we show that N-CAM is present already at onset of kidney development on the cells of the uninduced nephrogenic mesenchyme. After induction, when the cells convert into an epithelium, they lose N-CAM gradually and instead begin to express uvomorulin, another primary CAM. By using an organ culture model, we could rather precisely show that N-CAM and uvomorulin are coexpressed for a short period, but, when epithelial cell polarization is evident, only uvomorulin is present on the epithelium, whereas N-CAM is confined to the surrounding mesenchyme. Immunoblotting for N-CAM revealed that the ‘embryonic’ form of N-CAM, the broad 170–250K band was not present in the embryonic kidney, which instead expressed the three distinct 180K, 140K and 120K bands typical of adult neurones. The 180K and 140K bands were gradually lost during development and were no longer detectable in adult kidneys. By using an N-CAM cDNA, we detected three different mRNAs of 7.4, 6.7 and 4.3 kb in the developing kidney, but this expression was restricted to the embryonic and early postnatal stages. No transcripts were detectable in adult kidneys. The studies do not support the hypothesis that N-CAM expression in the kidney is turned on by embryonic induction. Rather, we suggest that N-CAM are important adhesives for the predetermined, but not yet induced, nephrogenic mesenchyme.