Professor Erich Nigg and his research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel in Switzerland have discovered an amino acid signal essential for error-free cell division. This signal regulates the number of centrosomes in the cell, and its absence results in the development of pathologically altered cells. Remarkably, such altered cells are found in people with a neurodevelopmental disorder called autosomal recessive primary microcephaly. The results of these investigations have been published online on January 30, 2014 in Current Biology. Cell division is the basis of all life. Of central importance is the error-free segregation of genetic material, the chromosomes. A flawless division process is a prerequisite for the development of healthy, new cells, whilst errors in cell division can cause illnesses such as cancer. The centrosome, a tiny cell organelle, plays a decisive role in this process. Professor Nigg’s research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel has investigated an important step in cell division: the duplication of the centrosome and its role in the correct segregation of the chromosomes into two daughter cells. The protein STIL has an essential function in this process. It ensures that centrosome duplicate before one half of the genetic material is transported into each of the two daughter cells. During cell division, the protein STIL is degraded. If this does not occur, the protein accumulates in the cell, which then causes an overproduction of centrosomes. As a consequence, mis-segregated chromosomes are incorporated into the daughter cells, which then represent cells with faulty genetic material.
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