Publication Date
2019
Journal or Book Title
eLife
Abstract
Microtubules (MTs) are essential for cleavage furrow positioning during cytokinesis, but the mechanisms by which MT-derived signals spatially define regions of cortical contractility are unresolved. In this study cytokinesis regulators visualized in Drosophila melanogaster (Dm) cells were found to localize to and track MT plus-ends during cytokinesis. The RhoA GEF Pebble (Dm ECT2) did not evidently tip-track, but rather localized rapidly to cortical sites contacted by MT plus-tips, resulting in RhoA activation and enrichment of myosin-regulatory light chain. The MT plus-end localization of centralspindlin was compromised following EB1 depletion, which resulted in a higher incidence of cytokinesis failure. Centralspindlin plus-tip localization depended on the C-terminus and a putative EB1-interaction motif (hxxPTxh) in RacGAP50C. We propose that MT plus-end-associated centralspindlin recruits a cortical pool of Dm ECT2 upon physical contact to activate RhoA and to trigger localized contractility.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.38968.001
Volume
8
License
UMass Amherst Open Access Policy
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Verma, Vikash and Maresca, Thomas J., "Microtubule plus-ends act as physical signaling hubs to activate RhoA during cytokinesis" (2019). eLife. 635.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.38968.001