Cytoplasmic dynein/dynactin drives kinetochore protein transport to the spindle poles and has a role in mitotic spindle checkpoint inactivation

We discovered that many proteins located in the kinetochore outer domain, but not the inner core, are depleted from kinetochores and accumulate at spindle poles when ATP production is suppressed in PtK1 cells, and that microtubule depolymerization inhibits this process. These proteins include the microtubule motors CENP-E and cytoplasmic dynein, and proteins involved with the mitotic spindle checkpoint, Mad2, Bub1R, and the 3F3/2 phosphoantigen. Depletion of these components did not disrupt kinetochore outer domain structure or alter metaphase kinetochore microtubule number. Inhibition of dynein/dynactin activity by microinjection in prometaphase with purified p50 “dynamitin” protein or concentrated 70.1 anti-dynein antibody blocked outer domain protein transport to the spindle poles, prevented Mad2 depletion from kinetochores despite normal kinetochore microtubule numbers, reduced metaphase kinetochore tension by 40%, and induced a mitotic block at metaphase. Dynein/dynactin inhibition did not block chromosome congression to the spindle equator in prometaphase, or segregation to the poles in anaphase when the spindle checkpoint was inactivated by microinjection with Mad2 antibodies. Thus, a major function of dynein/dynactin in mitosis is in a kinetochore disassembly pathway that contributes to inactivation of the spindle checkpoint

EB1 Targets to Kinetochores with Attached, Polymerizing Microtubules

Microtubule polymerization dynamics at kinetochores is coupled to chromosome movements, but its regulation there is poorly understood. The plus end tracking protein EB1 is required both for regulating microtubule dynamics and for maintaining a euploid genome. To address the role of EB1 in aneuploidy, we visualized its targeting in mitotic PtK1 cells. Fluorescent EB1, which localized to polymerizing ends of astral and spindle microtubules, was used to track their polymerization. EB1 also associated with a subset of attached kinetochores in late prometaphase and metaphase, and rarely in anaphase. Localization occurred in a narrow crescent, concave toward the centromere, consistent with targeting to the microtubule plus end–kinetochore interface. EB1 did not localize to kinetochores lacking attached kinetochore microtubules in prophase or early prometaphase, or upon nocodazole treatment. By time lapse, EB1 specifically targeted to kinetochores moving antipoleward, coupled to microtubule plus end polymerization, and not during plus end depolymerization. It localized independently of spindle bipolarity, the spindle checkpoint, and dynein/dynactin function. EB1 is the first protein whose targeting reflects kinetochore directionality, unlike other plus end tracking proteins that show enhanced kinetochore binding in the absence of microtubules. Our results suggest EB1 may modulate kinetochore microtubule polymerization and/or attachment