ArticleMolecular biology of the cell2017
Increased lateral microtubule contact at the cell cortex is sufficient to drive mammalian spindle elongation.
Article in Molecular biology of the cell, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cell confinement initiates a delayed but heritable loss of chromosomes.Cell reports · 2026Article
- Cell confinement initiates a delayed but heritable loss of chromosomes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The mechanoresponsive chromosomal passenger complex sustains furrow ingression under confinement.Journal of molecular cell biology · 2025Article
- Mechanical coordination between anaphase A and B drives asymmetric chromosome segregation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- NuMA mechanically reinforces the spindle independently of its partner dynein.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Microtubule-driven cell shape changes and actomyosin flow synergize to position the centrosome.The Journal of cell biology · 2025Article
- NuMA mechanically reinforces the spindle independently of its partner dynein.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Article
- Mechanisms underlying spindle assembly and robustness.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2023Review
- Kinetochore-fiber lengths are maintained locally but coordinated globally by poles in the mammalian spindle.eLife · 2023Article
- Article
- Coupling of microtubule bundles isolates them from local disruptions to set the structural stability of the anaphase spindle.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Optogenetic EB1 inactivation shortens metaphase spindles by disrupting cortical force-producing interactions with astral microtubules.Current biology : CB · 2022Article
- Opposing motors provide mechanical and functional robustness in the human spindle.Developmental cell · 2021Article
- Anaphase B: Long-standing models meet new concepts.Seminars in cell & developmental biology · 2021Review
- Chemical tools for dissecting cell division.Nature chemical biology · 2021Review
- Cellular Pushing Forces during Mitosis Drive Mitotic Elongation in Collagen Gels.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2021Article
- The mitotic protein NuMA plays a spindle-independent role in nuclear formation and mechanics.The Journal of cell biology · 2020Article
- PLK1- and PLK4-Mediated Asymmetric Mitotic Centrosome Size and Positioning in the Early Zebrafish Embryo.Current biology : CB · 2020Article
- Individual kinetochore-fibers locally dissipate force to maintain robust mammalian spindle structure.The Journal of cell biology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The spindle is a dynamic structure that changes its architecture and size in response to biochemical and physical cues. For example, a simple physical change, cell confinement, can trigger centrosome separation and increase spindle steady-state length at metaphase. How this occurs is not understood, and is the question we pose here. We find that metaphase and anaphase spindles elongate at the same rate when confined, suggesting that similar elongation forces can be generated independent of biochemical and spindle structural differences. Furthermore, this elongation does not require bipolar spindle architecture or dynamic microtubules. Rather, confinement increases numbers of astral microtubules laterally contacting the cortex, shifting contact geometry from "end-on" to "side-on." Astral microtubules engage cortically anchored motors along their length, as demonstrated by outward sliding and buckling after ablation-mediated release from the centrosome. We show that dynein is required for confinement-induced spindle elongation, and both chemical and physical centrosome removal demonstrate that astral microtubules are required for such spindle elongation and its maintenance. Together the data suggest that promoting lateral cortex-microtubule contacts increases dynein-mediated force generation and is sufficient to drive spindle elongation. More broadly, changes in microtubule-to-cortex contact geometry could offer a mechanism for translating changes in cell shape into dramatic intracellular remodeling.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.