Bimodal Interaction of Mammalian Polo-Like Kinase 1 and a Centrosomal Scaffold, Cep192, in the Regulation of Bipolar Spindle Formation

Mol Cell Biol. 2015 Aug;35(15):2626-40. doi: 10.1128/MCB.00068-15.

Abstract

Serving as microtubule-organizing centers, centrosomes play a key role in forming bipolar spindles. The mechanism of how centrosomes promote bipolar spindle assembly in various organisms remains largely unknown. A recent study with Xenopus laevis egg extracts suggested that the Plk1 ortholog Plx1 interacts with the phospho-T46 (p-T46) motif of Xenopus Cep192 (xCep192) to form an xCep192-mediated xAurA-Plx1 cascade that is critical for bipolar spindle formation. Here, we demonstrated that in cultured human cells, Cep192 recruits AurA and Plk1 in a cooperative manner, and this event is important for the reciprocal activation of AurA and Plk1. Strikingly, Plk1 interacted with Cep192 through either the p-T44 (analogous to Xenopus p-T46) or the newly identified p-S995 motif via its C-terminal noncatalytic polo-box domain. The interaction between Plk1 and the p-T44 motif was prevalent in the presence of Cep192-bound AurA, whereas the interaction of Plk1 with the p-T995 motif was preferred in the absence of AurA binding. Notably, the loss of p-T44- and p-S995-dependent Cep192-Plk1 interactions induced an additive defect in recruiting Plk1 and γ-tubulin to centrosomes, which ultimately led to a failure in proper bipolar spindle formation and mitotic progression. Thus, we propose that Plk1 promotes centrosome-based bipolar spindle formation by forming two functionally nonredundant complexes with Cep192.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs / genetics
  • Aurora Kinase A / metabolism*
  • Binding Sites / genetics
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Centrosome / metabolism
  • Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / metabolism*
  • Enzyme Activation
  • HEK293 Cells
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Microtubules / metabolism
  • Polo-Like Kinase 1
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / metabolism*
  • RNA Interference
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • Spindle Apparatus / genetics
  • Spindle Apparatus / metabolism*
  • Tubulin / metabolism

Substances

  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Cep192 protein, human
  • Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • Tubulin
  • Aurora Kinase A
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases