title: Nucleocytoplasmic protein translocation during mitosis in the social amoebozoan Dictyostelium discoideum.
abstract: Mitosis is a fundamental and essential life process. It underlies the duplication and survival of all cells and, as a result, all eukaryotic organisms. Since uncontrolled mitosis is a dreaded component of many cancers, a full understanding of the process is critical. Evolution has led to the existence of three types of mitosis: closed, open, and semi-open. The significance of these different mitotic species, how they can lead to a full understanding of the critical events that underlie the asexual duplication of all cells, and how they may generate new insights into controlling unregulated cell division remains to be determined. The eukaryotic microbe Dictyostelium discoideum has proved to be a valuable biomedical model organism. While it appears to utilize closed mitosis, a review of the literature suggests that it possesses a form of mitosis that lies in the middle between truly open and fully closed mitosis-it utilizes a form of semi-open mitosis. Here, the nucleocytoplasmic translocation patterns of the proteins that have been studied during mitosis in the social amoebozoan D. discoideum are detailed followed by a discussion of how some of them provide support for the hypothesis of semi-open mitosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road N., Mississauga, Ontario, L5L 1C6, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G5, Canada.
authors.forename: Danton H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: O'Day
authors.forename: Aldona
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Budniak
mesh_terms: D021581:Active Transport, Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000502:physiology*; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Dictyostelium discoideum; centrosome; closed mitosis; nuclear envelope; nuclear pore complex; nuclear proteins; nucleocytoplasmic transport; nucleolus; nucleus; semi-open mitosis