▶Subject: Centrosome maturation:How cells prepare for bipolar spindle formation during mitosis

▶Speaker: Prof. Kunsoo Rhee (Department of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University)

▶Date: 4:00PM/September/27(Fri)/2013
 

▶Place: Auditorium(1F),Postech Biotech Center

*Abctract

The microtubule-organizing activity of the centrosome oscillates during the cell cycle, reaching its highest level at mitosis.
At the onset of mitosis, the centrosome undergoes maturation, which is characterized by a drastic expansion of the pericentriolar matrix and a robust increase in microtubule-organizing activity. When the cells exit mitosis, the spindle poles disintegrate to become interphase centrosomes. At the same time, procentrioles are disengaged from the mother centrioles. Centriole disengagement is considered an essential step for licensing a new round of centriole duplication in the next cell cycle. In this talk,
I will discuss molecular mechanisms in centrosome maturation and spindle pole disintegration during mitosis. It is known that PLK1 is critical for the initiation of centrosome maturation. We propose that PLK1-mediated phosphorylation of pericentrin initiates centrosome maturation by organizing the spindle pole?specific pericentriolar matrix lattice. Separase is critical for centriole disengagement. We propose that the separase-dependent cleavage of pericentrin is necessary and sufficient for centriole disengagement during mitosis.

▶Inquiry: Prof. YunJe Cho(279-2288)