Skip to main content
profile image
Selected Works of Maura McGrail
Article
Cytoplasmic Dynein Is Required for the Nuclear Attachment and Migration of Centrosomes during Mitosis in Drosophila
The Journal of Cell Biology (1999)
  • John T. Robinson, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  • Edward J. Wojcik, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  • Mark A. Sanders, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  • Maura McGrail, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  • Thomas S. Hays, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Download Find in your library
Abstract
Cytoplasmic dynein is a multisubunit minus-end–directed microtubule motor that serves multiple cellular functions. Genetic studies in Drosophila and mouse have demonstrated that dynein function is essential in metazoan organisms. However, whether the essential function of dynein reflects a mitotic requirement, and what specific mitotic tasks require dynein remains controversial. Drosophila is an excellent genetic system in which to analyze dynein function in mitosis, providing excellent cytology in embryonic and somatic cells. We have used previously characterized recessive lethal mutations in the dynein heavy chain gene, Dhc64C, to reveal the contributions of the dynein motor to mitotic centrosome behavior in the syncytial embryo. Embryos lacking wild-type cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain were analyzed by in vivo analysis of rhodamine-labeled microtubules, as well as by immu-nofluorescence in situ methods. Comparisons between wild-type and Dhc64C mutant embryos reveal that dynein function is required for the attachment and migration of centrosomes along the nuclear envelope during interphase/prophase, and to maintain the attachment of centrosomes to mitotic spindle poles. The disruption of these centrosome attachments in mutant embryos reveals a critical role for dynein function and centrosome positioning in the spatial organization of the syncytial cytoplasm of the developing embryo.
Keywords
  • mitosis,
  • centrosomes,
  • dynein,
  • syncytial blastoderm,
  • Drosophila
Disciplines
Publication Date
1999
DOI
10.1083/jcb.146.3.597
Publisher Statement
© 1999 The Rockefeller University Press
Citation Information
John T. Robinson, Edward J. Wojcik, Mark A. Sanders, Maura McGrail, et al.. "Cytoplasmic Dynein Is Required for the Nuclear Attachment and Migration of Centrosomes during Mitosis in Drosophila" The Journal of Cell Biology Vol. 146 Iss. 3 (1999) p. 597 - 608
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/maura-mcgrail/7/
Creative Commons license
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-NC-SA International License.