Dynein is a critical mitotic motor whose inhibition causes defects in spindle pole organization and separation, chromosome congression or segregation, and anaphase spindle elongation, but results differ in different systems. We evaluated the functions of the dynein-dynactin complex by using RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated depletion of distinct subunits in Drosophila S2 cells. We observed a striking detachment of centrosomes from spindles, an increase in spindle length, and a loss of spindle pole focus. RNAi depletion of Ncd, another minus-end motor, produced disorganized spindles consisting of multiple disconnected mini-spindles, a different phenotype consistent with distinct pathways of spindle pole organization. Two candidate dynein-dependent spindle pole organizers also were investigated. RNAi depletion of the abnormal spindle protein, Asp, which localizes to focused poles of control spindles, produced a severe loss of spindle pole focus, whereas depletion of the pole-associated microtubule depolymerase KLP10A increased spindle microtubule density. Depletion of either protein produced long spindles. After RNAi depletion of dynein-dynactin, we observed subtle but significant mislocalization of KLP10A and Asp, suggesting that dynein-dynactin, Asp, and KLP10A have complex interdependent functions in spindle pole focusing and centrosome attachment. These results extend recent findings from Xenopus extracts to Drosophila cultured cells and suggest that common pathways contribute to spindle pole organization and length determination.

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Mitosis requires the concerted activities of multiple microtubule (MT)-based motor proteins. Here we examined the contribution of the chromokinesin, KLP3A, to mitotic spindle morphogenesis and chromosome movements in Drosophila embryos and cultured S2 cells. By immunofluorescence, KLP3A associates with nonfibrous punctae that concentrate in nuclei and display MT-dependent associations with spindles. These punctae concentrate in indistinct domains associated with chromosomes and central spindles and form distinct bands associated with telophase midbodies. The functional disruption of KLP3A by antibodies or dominant negative proteins in embryos, or by RNA interference (RNAi) in S2 cells, does not block mitosis but produces defects in mitotic spindles. Time-lapse confocal observations of mitosis in living embryos reveal that KLP3A inhibition disrupts the organization of interpolar (ip) MTs and produces short spindles. Kinetic analysis suggests that KLP3A contributes to spindle pole separation during the prometaphase-to-metaphase transition (when it antagonizes Ncd) and anaphase B, to normal rates of chromatid motility during anaphase A, and to the proper spacing of daughter nuclei during telophase. We propose that KLP3A acts on MTs associated with chromosome arms and the central spindle to organize ipMT bundles, to drive spindle pole separation and to facilitate chromatid motility.

Cell movement is generated by a driving force provided by dynamic cytoskeletal organization. Two main cytoskeletal-dependent features, essential for migration, are the highly cell polarized structure and focal adhesion complexes. Cell migration and substrate anchorage are finely regulated by external signaling exerted by growth factors and hormones. In particular, the serine threonine kinase activated by the small GTPase Rho, the Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK), participate in both processes through regulation of actin rearrangements in lamellipodia, filopodia, ruffles, and stress fibers. Melatonin, the main product secreted by the pineal gland has oncostatic properties. In MCF-7 cells, 1 nm melatonin reduces migration and invasiveness through increased expression of two cell surface adhesion proteins, E-cadherin and beta(1)-integrin. In this work, we studied the microfilament and microtubule rearrangements elicited by melatonin in migrating leader MCF-7 cells by a wound-healing assay. Additionally, cell anchorage was estimated by quantification of focal adhesions in MCF-7 cells cultured with melatonin. ROCK participation in the indole effects on anchorage and migration was explored by inhibition of the kinase activity with the specific inhibitor of ROCK, the Y-27632 compound. The results indicate that ROCK participates in the melatonin inhibitory effects on cell migration by changing cytoskeletal organization of leader MCF-7 cells. Also, they indicated that indole increased the number of focal contacts through ROCK. These results support the notion that melatonin inhibits cancer cell invasion and metastasis formation via ROCK-regulated microfilament and microtubule organization that converge in a migration/anchorage switch.

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