Kinesin-1 and Cytoplasmic Dynein Act Sequentially to Move the Meiotic Spindle to the Oocyte Cortex in Caenorhabditis elegans |
| |
Authors: | Marina L Ellefson and Francis J McNally |
| |
Institution: | Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616 |
| |
Abstract: | During female meiosis in animals, the meiotic spindle is attached to the egg cortex by one pole during anaphase to allow selective disposal of half the chromosomes in a polar body. In Caenorhabditis elegans, this anaphase spindle position is achieved sequentially through kinesin-1–dependent early translocation followed by anaphase-promoting complex (APC)-dependent spindle rotation. Partial depletion of cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain by RNA interference blocked spindle rotation without affecting early translocation. Dynein depletion also blocked the APC-dependent late translocation that occurs in kinesin-1–depleted embryos. Time-lapse imaging of green fluorescent protein-tagged dynein heavy chain as well as immunofluorescence with dynein-specific antibodies revealed that dynein starts to accumulate at spindle poles just before the initiation of rotation or late translocation. Accumulation of dynein at poles was kinesin-1 independent and APC dependent, just like dynein driven spindle movements. This represents a case of kinesin-1/dynein coordination in which these two motors of opposite polarity act sequentially and independently on a cargo to move it in the same direction. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|