Centrosome amplification is a frequent phenomenon in malignancies and may facilitate tumorigenesis by promoting chromosomal instability. On the other hand, a centrosome inactivation checkpoint comprising centrosome amplification leading to elimination of cells by mitotic catastrophe has been described in response to DNA damage by ionizing radiation or cytostatic drugs. So far, the exact nature of DNA damage-induced centrosome amplification, which might be overduplication or fragmentation of existing centrosomes, has been controversial. To solve this controversy, we have established a method to distinguish between these two possibilities using A549 cells expressing photoconvertible CETN2-Dendra2. In response to various DNA-damaging treatments, centrosome amplification but not fragmentation was observed. Moreover, centrosome amplification was preceded by excessive formation of centrin-containing centriolar satellites, which were identified as de novo-generated atypical centrin dots staining positive for centriolar satellite markers but negative or only weakly positive for other established centrosomal markers, and which could be verified as centriolar satellites using immunogold electron microscopy. In line with this notion, disruption of dynein-mediated recruitment of centrosomal proteins via centriolar satellites suppressed centrosome amplification after DNA damage, and excessive formation of centriolar satellites could be inhibited by interference with Chk1, a known mediator of centrosome amplification in response to DNA damage. In conclusion, we provide a model in which a Chk1-mediated DNA damage checkpoint induces excessive formation of centriolar satellites constituting assembly platforms for centrosomal proteins, which subsequently leads to centrosome amplification.

Centrosomes are central regulators of mitosis that are often amplified in cancer cells. Centrosomes function both as organizers of the mitotic spindle and as reaction centers to trigger activation of Cdk1 and G 2 /M transition in the cell cycle, but their functional organization remains incomplete. Recent proteomic studies have identified novel components of the human centrosome including Cep63, a protein of unknown function that Xenopus studies have implicated in mitotic spindle assembly and spindle inactivation after DNA damage. Here, we report that human Cep63 binds to and recruits Cdk1 to centrosomes, and thereby regulates mitotic entry. RNAi-mediated Cep63 depletion in U2OS cancer cells induced polyploidization through mitotic skipping. Elicitation of this phenotype was associated with downregulation of centrosomal Cdk1, mimicking the phenotype induced by direct depletion of Cdk1. In contrast, Cep63 overexpression induced de novo centrosome amplification during cell-cycle interphase. Induction of this phenotype was suppressible by cell treatment with the Cdk inhibitor roscovitine. In a survey of 244 neuroblastoma cases, Cep63 mRNA overexpression was associated with MYCN oncogene amplification and poor prognosis. In cultured cells, Cep63 overexpression was associated with an enhancement in replication-induced DNA breakage. Together, our findings define human Cep63 as a centrosomal recruitment factor for Cdk1 that is essential for mitotic entry, providing a physical link between the centrosome and the cell-cycle machinery. Cancer Res; 71(6); 2129-39. Ó2011 AACR.