New regime of droplet generation in a T-shape microfluidic junction

International audienceWe present an experimental study of a new regime of monodisperse micro-droplet generation that we named the balloon regime. A dispersion of oil in water in a T-junction microfluidic system was studied. Several microfluidic devices having different cross-sections of the continuous and the dispersed phases micro-channels were tested. This new regime appears only for low- dispersed phase velocity. The micro-droplet size is mainly related to the geometry of the T-junction micro-channels especially its width and depth, and independent of the continuous and dispersed phases velocities. In our experiments, the velocities of the continuous and the dispersed phases vc and vd respectively, have been varied in a wide range: vc from 0.5 to 500 mm/s, and vd from 0.01 to 30 mm/s. We show that the continuous phase only controls the micro-droplet density, while the dispersed phase linearly changes the frequency of the micro-droplet generation. Another particularity of the present regime, which differentiates it from all other known regimes, is that the micro-droplet retains its circular shape throughout its formation at the T junction, and undergoes no deformation due to the drag forces. We propose a mechanism to explain the formation of microdroplets in this new regime

Aurora A contributes to p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ phosphorylation and function during mitosis

Aurora A is a spindle pole–associated protein kinase required for mitotic spindle assembly and chromosome segregation. In this study, we show that Drosophila melanogaster aurora A phosphorylates the dynactin subunit p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ on sites required for its association with the mitotic spindle. Dynactin strongly accumulates on microtubules during prophase but disappears as soon as the nuclear envelope breaks down, suggesting that its spindle localization is tightly regulated. If aurora A's function is compromised, dynactin and dynein become enriched on mitotic spindle microtubules. Phosphorylation sites are localized within the conserved microtubule-binding domain (MBD) of the p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ. Although wild-type p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ binds weakly to spindle microtubules, a variant that can no longer be phosphorylated by aurora A remains associated with spindle microtubules and fails to rescue depletion of endogenous p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ. Our results suggest that aurora A kinase participates in vivo to the phosphoregulation of the p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ MBD to limit the microtubule binding of the dynein–dynactin complex and thus regulates spindle assembly

Aurora A contributes to p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ phosphorylation and function during mitosis

Aurora A is a spindle pole–associated protein kinase required for mitotic spindle assembly and chromosome segregation. In this study, we show that Drosophila melanogaster aurora A phosphorylates the dynactin subunit p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ on sites required for its association with the mitotic spindle. Dynactin strongly accumulates on microtubules during prophase but disappears as soon as the nuclear envelope breaks down, suggesting that its spindle localization is tightly regulated. If aurora A's function is compromised, dynactin and dynein become enriched on mitotic spindle microtubules. Phosphorylation sites are localized within the conserved microtubule-binding domain (MBD) of the p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ. Although wild-type p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ binds weakly to spindle microtubules, a variant that can no longer be phosphorylated by aurora A remains associated with spindle microtubules and fails to rescue depletion of endogenous p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ. Our results suggest that aurora A kinase participates in vivo to the phosphoregulation of the p150ᵍⁱᵘᵉᵈ MBD to limit the microtubule binding of the dynein–dynactin complex and thus regulates spindle assembly