Concentrating on the mitotic spindle.
In eukaryotes, the microtubule-based spindle drives chromosome segregation. In this issue, Schweizer et al. (2015; J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201506107) find that the spindle area is demarcated by a semipermeable organelle barrier. Molecular crowding, which is microtubule independent, causes the enrichment and/or retention of crucial factors in the spindle region. Their results add an important new feature to the models of how this structure assembles and is regulated.
Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 pmaddox@unc.edu.
Paul S
PS
Maddox
Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
Anne-Marie
AM
Ladouceur
D000818:Animals; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008870:Microtubules / Q000502:physiology*; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology*; D009685:Nuclear Envelope / Q000502:physiology*; D008941:Spindle Apparatus / Q000502:physiology*