Department of Biology
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Elastic ‘tethers’ connect separating anaphase chromosomes in a broad range of animal cells.
(Elsevier, 2017-09)We describe the general occurrence in animal cells of elastic components (“tethers”) that connect individual chromosomes moving to opposite poles during anaphase. Tethers, originally described in crane-fly spermatocytes, ... -
The role of myosin phosphorylation in anaphase chromosome movement
(Elsevier, 2013-04)This work deals with the role of myosin phosphorylation in anaphase chromosome movement. Y27632 and ML7 block two different pathways for phosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain (MRLC). Both stopped or slowed ... -
Precocious cleavage furrows simultaneously move and ingress when kinetochore microtubules are depolymerized in Mesostoma ehrenbergii spermatocytes.
(Springer Link, 2018-03)A “precocious” cleavage furrow develops and ingresses during early prometaphase in Mesostoma ehrenbergii spermatocytes (Forer and Pickett-Heaps, 2010). In response to chromosome movements which regularly occur during ... -
Chromosomes selectively detach at one pole and quickly move towards the opposite pole when kinetochore microtubules are depolymerized in Mesostoma ehrenbergii spermatocytes.
(Springer Link, 2018-02)In a typical cell division chromosomes align at the metaphase plate before anaphase commences. This is not the case in Mesostoma spermatocytes. Throughout prometaphase the three bivalents persistently oscillate ... -
Tethers: elastic connections between separating partner chromosomes in anaphase
(Springer Link, 2018-05)Recent work has demonstrated the existence of elastic connections, or tethers, between the telomeres of separating partner chromosomes in anaphase. These tethers oppose the poleward spindle forces ... -
Movement of chromosomes with severed kinetochore microtubules
(Springer Link, 2015-01)Experiments from as early as 1966 and thereafter showed that anaphase chromosomes continued to move poleward after their kinetochore microtubules were severed by ultraviolet microbeam irradiation; these conclusions were ... -
Polyploidy and reduction divisions in cancer and mosquito gut cells
(Wiley, 2013-01)Several articles in a recent issue of this journal have called attention to a possible way by which cancer cells can evade death and become resistant to treatments (discussed in Erenpreisa et al., 2008; Wheatley, 2008). ... -
Do nuclear envelope and intranuclear proteins reorganize during mitosis to form an elastic, hydrogel-like spindle matrix?
(Springer Link, 2011-01)The idea of a spindle matrix has long been proposed in order to account for poorly understood features of mitosis. However, its molecular nature and structural composition have remained elusive. Here we ... -
Distance segregation of sex chromosomes in crane-fly spermatocytes studied using laser microbeam irradiations.
(Springer Link, 2013-10)Univalent sex chromosomes in crane-fly spermatocytes have kinetochore spindle fibres to each spindle pole (amphitelic orientation) from metaphase throughout anaphase. The univalents segregate in anaphase only after the ... -
Mitosis: spindle evolution and the matrix model
(Springer Link, 2009-03)Current spindle models explain “anaphase A” (movement of chromosomes to the poles) in terms of a motility system based solely on microtubules (MTs) and that functions in a manner unique to mitosis. We find both these ... -
What generates flux of tubulin in kinetochore microtubules?
(Springer Link, 2008-04)We discuss models for production of tubulin flux in kinetochore microtubules. Current models concentrate solely on microtubules and their associated motors and enzymes. For example, in some models the driving force for ... -
Actin and myosin inhibitors block elongation of kinetochore fibre stubs in metaphase crane-fly spermatocytes
(Springer Link, 2007-12)We used an ultraviolet microbeam to cut individual kinetochore spindle fibres in metaphasecrane-fly spermatocytes; then we followed the growth of the “kinetochore stubs”, the remnants of kinetochore fibres that remain ... -
Possible roles of actin and myosin during anaphase chromosome movements in locust spermatocytes
(Springer Link, 2007-10)We tested whether the mechanisms of chromosome movement during anaphase in locust [Locusta migratoria (L.)] spermatocytes might be similar to those described in crane-fly spermatocytes. Actin and myosin have ... -
Elastic tethers between separating anaphase chromosomes in crane-fly spermatocytes coordinate chromosome movements to the two poles.
(Wiley, 2017-02)Separating anaphase chromosomes in crane-fly spermatocytes are connected by elastic tethers, as originally described by [LaFountain et al., 2002]: telomere-containing arm fragments severed from the arms move backwards ... -
The role of actin and myosin in PtK2 spindle length changes induced by laser microbeam irradiations across the spindle
(Wiley, 2013-05)This study investigates spindle biomechanical properties to better understand how spindles function. In this report, laser microbeam cutting across mitotic spindles resulted in movement of spindle poles ... -
Mesostoma ehrenbergii spermatocytes - a unique and advantageous cell for studying meiosis
(Wiley, 2013-05)Mesostoma ehrenbergii have a unique male meiosis: their spermatocytes have three large bivalents that oscillate for 1-2 hours before entering into anaphase without having formed a metaphase plate, ... -
Methods for rearing Mesostoma ehrenbergii in the laboratory for cell biology experiments, including identification of factors that influence production of different egg types
(Wiley, 2013-10)Mesostoma ehrenbergii spermatocytes are uniquely useful to study various aspects of cell division. Their chromosomes are large in size and few in number, with only 3 bivalent and 4 univalent chromosomes. ... -
Jasplakinolide, an actin stabilizing agent, alters anaphase chromosome movements in crane‐fly spermatocytes
(Wiley, 2008-11)We added jasplakinolide to anaphase crane-fly spermatocytes and determined its effects on chromosome movement. Previous work showed that actin depolymerizing agents such ascytochalasin D or latrunculin B blocked ... -
Supplemental data for "HACS1 signaling adaptor protein recognizes a motif in the Paired Immunoglobulin Receptor B cytoplasmic domain"
(2020)HACS1 (hematopoietic adaptor containing SH3 and SAM domains-1) is a signaling protein with two juxtaposed protein-protein interaction domains and an intrinsically unstructured region that spans half the sequence. Here, we ...
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