title: The spindle-assembly checkpoint in space and time.
abstract: In eukaryotes, the spindle-assembly checkpoint (SAC) is a ubiquitous safety device that ensures the fidelity of chromosome segregation in mitosis. The SAC prevents chromosome mis-segregation and aneuploidy, and its dysfunction is implicated in tumorigenesis. Recent molecular analyses have begun to shed light on the complex interaction of the checkpoint proteins with kinetochores--structures that mediate the binding of spindle microtubules to chromosomes in mitosis. These studies are finally starting to reveal the mechanisms of checkpoint activation and silencing during mitotic progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Via Ripamonti 435, 20141 Milan, Italy. andrea.musacchio@ifom-leo-campus.it
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Musacchio
authors.forename: Edward D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Salmon
mesh_terms: D000782:Aneuploidy; D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D018816:Genes, cdc / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D018386:Kinetochores / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000502:physiology; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D010770:Phosphotransferases