Work

Molecular architectures of centrosomes in C. elegans embryos visualized by cryo-electron tomography

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Centrosomes organize microtubules that are essential for mitotic divisions in animal cells. They consist of centrioles surrounded by pericentriolar material (PCM). Questions related to mechanisms of centriole assembly, PCM organization, and spindle microtubule formation remain unanswered, partly due to limited availability of molecular-resolution structural data inside cells. Here, we use cryo-electron tomography to visualize centrosomes across the cell cycle in cells isolated from C. elegans embryos. We describe a pseudo-timeline of centriole assembly and identify distinct structural features in both mother and daughter centrioles. We find that centrioles and PCM microtubules differ in protofilament number (13 versus 11), which could be explained by atypical γ-tubulin ring complexes with 11-fold symmetry identified at the minus ends of short PCM microtubule segments. We further characterize a porous and disordered network that forms the interconnected PCM. Thus, our work builds a three-dimensional structural atlas that helps explain how centrosomes assemble, grow, and achieve function.

Source: Developmental Cell

DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2024.12.002

Authors: Fergus Tollervey, Manolo U. Rios, Evgenia Zagoriy, Jeffrey B. Woodruff, Julia Mahamid

Institutions: Heidelberg University, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Language: English

Topic: Microtubule and mitosis dynamics

Subfield: Cell Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $9,350