Spindle rotation in human cells is reliant on a MARK2-mediated equatorial spindle-centering mechanism

This work was supported by a Cancer Research UK Career Development Award (C28598/A9787), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Project grant (BB/R01003X/1), and a Queen Mary University of London Laboratory startup grant to V.M. Draviam, a Universiti Brunei Darussalam PhD studentship to I. Zulkipli, a Queen Mary University of London PhD studentship to M. Hart, a London Interdisciplinary Biosciences Consortium Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council–Doctoral Training Partnerships PhD studentship to D. Dang (cosupervised by V.M. Draviam and N. Sastry; BB/M009513/1), and an Islamic Development Bank PhD studentship to P. Gul

The p25 subunit of the dynactin complex is required for dynein–early endosome interaction

The p25 subunit of the dynactin complex is required for the interaction between cytoplasmic dynein and early endosomes but is not required for dynein-mediated nuclear distribution

Dlg1 binds GKAP to control dynein association with microtubules, centrosome positioning, and cell polarity

The small GTPase Cdc42 regulates interactions of dynein with microtubules through the polarity protein Dlg1 and the scaffolding protein GKAP

CDK-1 inhibits meiotic spindle shortening and dynein-dependent spindle rotation in C. elegans

Before chromosome expulsion into polar bodies during female meiosis, the APC inhibits CDK-1 to allow dynein-driven spindle rotation

Dynein, microtubule and cargo: a ménage à trois

To exert forces, motor proteins bind with one end to cytoskeletal filaments, such as microtubules and actin, and with the other end to the cell cortex, a vesicle or another motor. A general question is how motors search for sites in the cell where both motor ends can bind to their respective binding partners. In the present review, we focus on cytoplasmic dynein, which is required for a myriad of cellular functions in interphase, mitosis and meiosis, ranging from transport of organelles and functioning of the mitotic spindle to chromosome movements in meiotic prophase. We discuss how dynein targets sites where it can exert a pulling force on the microtubule to transport cargo inside the cell