Kinetochore-microtubule attachment in human cells is regulated by the interaction of a conserved motif of Ska1 with EB1.

The kinetochore establishes the linkage between chromosomes and the spindle microtubule plus ends during mitosis. In vertebrates, the spindle-kinetochore-associated (Ska1,2,3) complex stabilizes kinetochore attachment with the microtubule plus ends, but how Ska is recruited to and stabilized at the kinetochore-microtubule interface is not understood. Here, our results show that interaction of Ska1 with the general microtubule plus end-associated protein EB1 through a conserved motif regulates Ska recruitment to kinetochores in human cells. Ska1 forms a stable complex with EB1 via interaction with the motif in its N-terminal disordered loop region. Disruption of this interaction either by deleting or mutating the motif disrupts Ska complex recruitment to kinetochores and induces chromosome alignment defects, but it does not affect Ska complex assembly. Atomic-force microscopy imaging revealed that Ska1 is anchored to the C-terminal region of the EB1 dimer through its loop and thereby promotes formation of extended structures. Furthermore, our NMR data showed that the Ska1 motif binds to the residues in EB1 that are the binding sites of other plus end targeting proteins that are recruited to microtubules by EB1 through a similar conserved motif. Collectively, our results demonstrate that EB1-mediated Ska1 recruitment onto the microtubule serves as a general mechanism for the formation of vertebrate kinetochore-microtubule attachments and metaphase chromosome alignment.

SAS-6 Association with γ-Tubulin Ring Complex Is Required for Centriole Duplication in Human Cells.

Centrioles are essential components of centrosome, the main microtubule-organizing center of animal cells required for robust spindle bipolarity [1, 2]. They are duplicated once during the cell cycle [3], and the duplication involves assembly of a cartwheel on the pre-existing centriole followed by assembly of triplet microtubules around the cartwheel [4, 5]. Although the molecular details of cartwheel formation are understood [6-13], the mechanisms initiating the formation of centriolar microtubules are not known. Here, we show that the central component of cartwheel, HsSAS-6 plays a crucial role in the formation of centriolar microtubules by interacting with the microtubule nucleation machinery, γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC) in human cells. The globular N terminus and the central coiled-coil domain of SAS-6 are required for formation of the cartwheel [7, 14], whereas the function of its C-terminal outer cartwheel region in centriole duplication remains unclear. We find that deletion of HsSAS-6 C terminus disrupts microtubule formation in daughter centriole, and as a result, cells fail to form the new centriole. Consequently, this results in mitotic cells having only two centrioles localized at a single site. Detailed molecular analyses showed that HsSAS-6 interacts with the γ-TuRC proteins and associates with the γ-TuRC at the centrosome, and furthermore, the C terminus is essential for this association. High-resolution microscopy revealed localization of the γ-TuRC protein, γ-tubulin as multiple lobes surrounding the HsSAS-6-containing central hub in the centriole. Together, the results indicate that HsSAS-6 regulates centriolar microtubule assembly by anchoring γ-TuRCs to the pro-centriole at the onset of daughter centriole formation.