Cell division is essential for the maintenance of life and involves chromosome segregation and subsequent cytokinesis. The processes are tightly regulated at both the spatial and temporal level by various genes, and failures in this regulation are associated with oncogenesis. Here, we investigated the gene responsible for defects in cell division by using murine temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant strains, tsFT101 and tsFT50 cells. The ts mutants normally grow in a low temperature environment (32 °C) but fail to divide in a high temperature environment (39 °C). Exome sequencing and over-expression analyses identified Diaph3, a member of the formin family, as the cause of the temperature sensitivity observed in tsFT101 and tsFT50 cells. Interestingly, Diaph3 knockout cells showed abnormality in cytokinesis at 39 °C, and the phenotype was rescued by re-expression of Diaph3 WT, but not Diaph1 and Diaph2, other members of the formin family. Furthermore, Diaph3 knockout cells cultured at 39 °C showed a significant increase in the level of acetylated α-tubulin, an index of stabilized microtubules, and the level was reduced by Diaph3 expression. These results suggest that Diaph3 is required for cytokinesis only under high temperature conditions. Therefore, our study provides a new insight into the mechanisms by which regulatory factors of cell division function in a temperature-dependent manner.
Keywords: Diaph3; cell division; formin family proteins; mitosis; temperature-sensitive mutants.