Forchlorfenuron, a phenylurea cytokinin, disturbs septin organization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Septins, which are involved in cytokinesis, have been identified in a variety of fungi and animal cells. For analysis of the function of septin, drugs targeting septin would be useful; however, no such drugs have been available hitherto. By serendipity, we found that forchlorfenuron (FCF, N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N-phenylurea, 4PU300), a synthetic plant cytokinin, disturbed cytokinesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Upon administration of FCF, septin structures at the bud neck became deformed and filament-like septin appeared outside of the neck. Under these conditions, the localization of actin was normal and Gin4, which is localized at the bud neck in a septin-dependent manner, was found to remain at the location of apparently normal septin at the bud neck, whereas it was not co-localized to the deformed septin at the bud neck or to septin seen outside the bud neck. FCF administration immediately induced production of sporadic septin structures outside the bud neck, and these structures disappeared promptly upon removal of the drug. Taken together, these findings indicate that FCF maybe a promising drug for investigating the structure and function of septin.
Iwase
Masayuki
M
Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
Okada
Satoshi
S
Oguchi
Tomoko
T
Toh-e
Akio
A
D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D010671:Phenylurea Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*
D005656:Fungal Proteins; D010671:Phenylurea Compounds; D011725:Pyridines; C116093:N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N'-phenylurea