Gamma-tubulin coordinates nuclear envelope assembly around chromatin.

The cytosolic role of γ-tubulin as a microtubule organizer has been studied thoroughly, but its nuclear function is poorly understood. Here, we show that γ-tubulin is located throughout the chromatin of demembranated Xenopus laevis sperm and, as the nucleus is formed, γ-tubulin recruits lamin B3 and nuclear membranes. Immunodepletion of γ-tubulin impairs X. laevis assembly of both the lamina and the nuclear membrane. During nuclear formation in mammalian cell lines, γ-tubulin establishes a cellular protein boundary around chromatin that coordinates nuclear assembly of the daughter nuclei. Furthermore, expression of a γ-tubulin mutant that lacks the DNA-binding domain forms chromatin-empty nuclear like structures and demonstrate that a constant interplay between the chromatin-associated and the cytosolic pools of γ-tubulin is required and, when the balance between pools is impaired, aberrant nuclei are formed. We therefore propose that the nuclear protein meshwork formed by γ-tubulin around chromatin coordinates nuclear formation in eukaryotic cells.

The nuclear localization of γ-tubulin is regulated by SadB-mediated phosphorylation.

γ-Tubulin is an important cell division regulator that arranges microtubule assembly and mitotic spindle formation. Cytosolic γ-tubulin nucleates α- and ß-tubulin in a growing microtubule by forming the ring-shaped protein complex γTuRC. Nuclear γ-tubulin also regulates S-phase progression by moderating the activities of E2 promoter-binding factors. The mechanism that regulates localization of γ-tubulin is currently unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the human Ser/Thr kinase SadB short localizes to chromatin and centrosomes. We found that SadB-mediated phosphorylation of γ-tubulin on Ser(385) formed chromatin-associated γ-tubulin complexes that moderate gene expression. In this way, the C-terminal region of γ-tubulin regulates S-phase progression. In addition, chromatin levels of γ-tubulin were decreased by the reduction of SadB levels or expression of a non-phosphorylatable Ala(385)-γ-tubulin but were enhanced by expression of SadB, wild-type γ-tubulin, or a phosphomimetic Asp(385)-γ-tubulin mutant. Our results demonstrate that SadB kinases regulate the cellular localization of γ-tubulin and thereby control S-phase progression.