HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 281, Issue 14, 9677-9687, April 7, 2006

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data All Versions of this Article: 281/14/9677    most recent M511504200v1 Submit a Letter to Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tu, X. Articles by Wang, C. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Tu, X. Articles by Wang, C. C. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

An Aurora Kinase Homologue Is Involved in Regulating Both Mitosis and Cytokinesis in Trypanosoma brucei^*

From the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143

The chromosomal passenger protein aurora kinases have been implicated in regulating chromosome segregation and cell division. Three aurora kinase homologues were identified (TbAUK1, -2 and -3) in the Trypanosome Genomic Data Base, and their expressions in the procyclic form of Trypanosoma brucei were knocked down individually by using the RNA interference technique. Only a knockdown of TbAUK1 arrested the cells in G²/M phase with each cell showing an extended posterior end, two kinetoplasts, and an enlarged nucleus, apparently the result of an inhibited kinetoplast multiplication and a failed mitosis. There is no mitotic spindle structure in the TbAUK1-depleted cell. The two kinetoplasts moved apart from each other but stopped just before cytokinesis, suggesting that cytokinesis was blocked in its early phase. Overexpression of TbAUK1 in the cells resulted in little change in cell growth. By immunofluorescence, TbAUK1 was primarily localized to the nucleus in interphase and to the mitotic spindle during apparent metaphase and anaphase. Thus, differing from other eukaryotes, TbAUK1 has an apparent triple function in coupling mitosis and kinetoplast replication with cytokinesis in T. brucei. T. brucei polo-like kinase, previously identified as the initiator of cytokinesis without apparent involvement in mitosis in the trypanosome, was either depleted or overexpressed in the TbAUK1-deficient cells. A dominant TbAUK1-depleted phenotype was demonstrated in both cases, suggesting that TbAUK1 plays an essential role in cytokinesis that cannot be affected by changes in the level of T. brucei polo-like kinase. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the function of an aurora B-like kinase is a prerequisite for polo-like kinase action in initiating cytokinesis. TbAUK1 is also the first identified protein that couples both mitosis and kinetoplast replication with cytokinesis in the trypanosome.

Received for publication, October 24, 2005 , and in revised form, January 20, 2006.

^* This study was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant AI-21786. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental Figs. 1 and 2.

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-2280. Tel.: 415-476-1321; Fax: 415-476-3382; E-mail: ccwang{at}cgl.ucsf.edu.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Acestor, A. K. Panigrahi, J. Carnes, A. Zikova, and K. D. Stuart The MRB1 complex functions in kinetoplastid RNA processing RNA, February 1, 2009; 15(2): 277 - 286. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Zikova, A. K. Panigrahi, A. D. Uboldi, R. A. Dalley, E. Handman, and K. Stuart Structural and Functional Association of Trypanosoma brucei MIX Protein with Cytochrome c Oxidase Complex Eukaryot. Cell, November 1, 2008; 7(11): 1994 - 2003. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Li and C. C. Wang KMP-11, a Basal Body and Flagellar Protein, Is Required for Cell Division in Trypanosoma brucei Eukaryot. Cell, November 1, 2008; 7(11): 1941 - 1950. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Umeyama and C. C. Wang Polo-Like Kinase Is Expressed in S/G2/M Phase and Associated with the Flagellum Attachment Zone in both Procyclic and Bloodstream Forms of Trypanosoma brucei Eukaryot. Cell, September 1, 2008; 7(9): 1582 - 1590. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Li, Q. Chen, M. Kaller, W. Nellen, R. Graf, and A. De Lozanne Dictyostelium Aurora Kinase Has Properties of both Aurora A and Aurora B Kinases Eukaryot. Cell, May 1, 2008; 7(5): 894 - 905. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Li, S. Gourguechon, and C. C. Wang Tousled-like kinase in a microbial eukaryote regulates spindle assembly and S-phase progression by interacting with Aurora kinase and chromatin assembly factors J. Cell Sci., November 1, 2007; 120(21): 3883 - 3894. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Boucher, D. Dacheux, C. Giroud, and T. Baltz An Essential Cell Cycle-regulated Nucleolar Protein Relocates to the Mitotic Spindle Where It Is Involved in Mitotic Progression in Trypanosoma brucei J. Biol. Chem., May 4, 2007; 282(18): 13780 - 13790. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Li and C. C. Wang Changing Roles of Aurora-B Kinase in Two Life Cycle Stages of Trypanosoma brucei. Eukaryot. Cell, July 1, 2006; 5(7): 1026 - 1035. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]