title: The role of mitotic kinases in coupling the centrosome cycle with the assembly of the mitotic spindle.
abstract: The centrosome acts as the major microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) for cytoskeleton maintenance in interphase and mitotic spindle assembly in vertebrate cells. It duplicates only once per cell cycle in a highly spatiotemporally regulated manner. When the cell undergoes mitosis, the duplicated centrosomes separate to define spindle poles and monitor the assembly of the bipolar mitotic spindle for accurate chromosome separation and the maintenance of genomic stability. However, centrosome abnormalities occur frequently and often lead to monopolar or multipolar spindle formation, which results in chromosome instability and possibly tumorigenesis. A number of studies have begun to dissect the role of mitotic kinases, including NIMA-related kinases (Neks), cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), Polo-like kinases (Plks) and Aurora kinases, in regulating centrosome duplication, separation and maturation and subsequent mitotic spindle assembly during cell cycle progression. In this Commentary, we review the recent research progress on how these mitotic kinases are coordinated to couple the centrosome cycle with the cell cycle, thus ensuring bipolar mitotic spindle fidelity. Understanding this process will help to delineate the relationship between centrosomal abnormalities and spindle defects.
authors.affiliation: The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation and The State Key Laboratory of Bio-membrane and Membrane Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation and The State Key Laboratory of Bio-membrane and Membrane Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation and The State Key Laboratory of Bio-membrane and Membrane Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China zhangcm@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chuanmao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D018385:Centrosome / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D011494:Protein Kinases
keywords: Cell cycle; Centriole; Centrosome cycle; Mitotic kinase; Pericentriolar material; Spindle assembly