Work

The LKB1 Tumor Suppressor Controls Spindle Orientation and Localization of Activated AMPK in Mitotic Epithelial Cells

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Orientation of mitotic spindles plays an integral role in determining the relative positions of daughter cells in a tissue. LKB1 is a tumor suppressor that controls cell polarity, metabolism, and microtubule stability. Here, we show that germline LKB1 mutation in mice impairs spindle orientation in cells of the upper gastrointestinal tract and causes dramatic mislocalization of the LKB1 substrate AMPK in mitotic cells. RNAi of LKB1 causes spindle misorientation in three-dimensional MDCK cell cysts. Maintaining proper spindle orientation, possibly mediated by effects on the downstream kinase AMPK, could be an important tumor suppressor function of LKB1.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0041118

Authors: Chongjuan Wei, Varun Kumar Bhattaram, John C. Igwe, Elizabeth Fleming, Jennifer S. Tirnauer

Institutions: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UConn Health

Language: English

Topic: Microtubule and mitosis dynamics

Subfield: Cell Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,382