First published online October 12, 2007
Development 134, 2103e (2007)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
More to separase than chromosome separation
Fertilization triggers several events in oocytes, including resumption of
the cell cycle and, in many organisms, exocytosis of cortical granules, the
contents of which modify the extracellular covering of the zygote. Bembenek
and co-workers now identify cortical granules in C. elegans for the
first time and show that their exocytosis after fertilization is regulated by
several cell-cycle components, most notably separase, which is required for
chromosome segregation during anaphase (see
p. 3837). The
exocytosis of cortical granules in fertilized C. elegans oocytes, the
researchers report, leads to the formation of an impermeable three-layered
eggshell. Using RNAi knockdown, they show that separase is required for
granule exocytosis and chromosome segregation. Then, using immunofluorescence
and live-cell imaging, they show that, after fertilization, separase moves
from filamentous structures into cortical granules. These, they report, are
exocytosed during anaphase I. Together, these results lead the researchers to
propose that separase helps to coordinate the cell cycle with the other events
that occur during egg activation.
Related articles in Development:
- Cortical granule exocytosis in C. elegans is regulated by cell cycle components including separase
- Joshua N. Bembenek, Christopher T. Richie, Jayne M. Squirrell, Jay M. Campbell, Kevin W. Eliceiri, Dmitry Poteryaev, Anne Spang, Andy Golden, and John G. White
Development 2007 134: 3837-3848.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
