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Using Electron Tomography to Determine How Kinetochores Bind and Alter the Conformations of Microtubule Plus Ends

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

B.F. McEwen
Affiliation:
Wadsworth Center, NYS Dept Health, Albany, NY, 12201-0509 Dept. Biomedical Sciences, State Univ. New York Albany, Albany, NY, 12222
R.M. Barnard
Affiliation:
Wadsworth Center, NYS Dept Health, Albany, NY, 12201-0509
C-E. Hsieh
Affiliation:
Wadsworth Center, NYS Dept Health, Albany, NY, 12201-0509
J. Frank
Affiliation:
Wadsworth Center, NYS Dept Health, Albany, NY, 12201-0509 Dept. Biomedical Sciences, State Univ. New York Albany, Albany, NY, 12222 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Albany, NY, 12201-0509
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Abstract

Chromosome alignment during mitosis and meiosis is mediated through the interaction between kinetochores and spindle microtubules (Mts). Kinetochores are fibrous mat-like structures, located at the primary constriction of chromosomes, that bind spindle Mts, generate poleward chromosome motion, and delay progression through mitosis until chromosome alignment is complete. Mts are polar polymers that function as tracks for the movement of a variety of cellular organelles and vesicles. Chromosome alignment requires a unique form of Mt-based motion because kinetochores capture and bind the plus ends of a bundle of Mts, rather than moving along the lateral surface of a single Mt . As a result, the direction of chromosome motion must be coordinated with the growth and shrinkage of Mts. Furthermore, the kinetochore maintains continuous attachment to growing and shrinking Mts and simultaneously permits the addition and dissociation of tubulin subunits within its confines

Type
Electron Tomography: Recent Advances and Applications (Organized by M. Marko)
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2001

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