Bridging the gap between sister kinetochores

Tolić, Iva M.; Pavin, Nenad (2016) Bridging the gap between sister kinetochores. Cell Cycle, 19 (9). pp. 1169-1170. ISSN 1538-4101

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Abstract

The main task of the mitotic spindle is to generate forces that position the chromosomes at the metaphase plate and subsequently pull them apart toward the opposite spindle poles. These forces in living cells are, unfortunately, not easily accessible by current experimental techniques.1 Nicklas RB. J Cell Biol 1983; 97:542-8; PMID:6885908; http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.97.2.542[CrossRef], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] However, much about the forces can be inferred from the shape of the spindle because the shape is an outcome of forces. K-fibers, which are bundles of microtubules ending at the kinetochore, are typically curved, suggesting that they are under compression. This inference contradicts the fact that sister kinetochores and thus also sister k-fibers are under tension, leaving us with a paradox about the origin of the curved shape of the spindle.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	compression; forces; kinetochores; k-fibers; mitotic spindle; microtubules; mitosis; metaphase; PRC1; tension
Subjects:	NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology > Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Divisions:	Division of Molecular Biology
Depositing User:	Iva Tolić
Date Deposited:	23 Feb 2017 15:44
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/3393
DOI:	10.1080/15384101.2016.1157976

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