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Mitotic forces control a cell-cycle checkpoint - Nature

  • ️Nicklas, R. Bruce
  • ️Thu Feb 16 1995
  • Letter
  • Published: 16 February 1995

Nature volume 373, pages 630–632 (1995)Cite this article

Abstract

EVERY time a cell divides, the chromosomes must be distributed accurately to the daughter cells. Errors in distribution arise if chromosomes are improperly attached to the mitotic spindle. Improper attachment is detected by a cell-cycle checkpoint in many cells1,2 and the completion of cell division is delayed, allowing time for error correction. How is an improperly attached chromosome detected? An absence of tension from mitotic forces is one possibility3. Here we test this possibility directly by applying tension to an improperly attached chromosome with a micromanipulation needle. In the absence of tension, the entry into anaphase and the completion of mitosis was delayed by 5–6 hours. When the misattached chromosome was placed under tension, however, the cell entered anaphase in 56 minutes, on average. Tension from mitotic forces or from a micromanipulator's needle evidently signals to the checkpoint that all is in order and that cell division can proceed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Duke University, Box 91000, Durham, North Carolina, 27708-1000, USA

    Xiaotong Li & R. Bruce Nicklas

Authors

  1. Xiaotong Li

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  2. R. Bruce Nicklas

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Li, X., Nicklas, R. Mitotic forces control a cell-cycle checkpoint. Nature 373, 630–632 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/373630a0

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  • Received: 18 October 1994

  • Accepted: 21 December 1994

  • Issue Date: 16 February 1995

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/373630a0