CENP-E as an essential component of the mitotic checkpoint in vitro

Accurate chromatid separation is monitored by a checkpoint mechanism that delays anaphase onset until all centromeres are correctly attached to the mitotic spindle. Using Xenopus egg extracts, the kinetochore-associated microtubule motor protein CENP-E is now found to be required for establishing and maintaining this checkpoint. When CENP-E function is disrupted by immunodepletion or antibody addition, extracts fail to arrest in response to spindle damage. Mitotic arrest can be restored by addition of high levels of soluble MAD2, demonstrating that the absence of CENP-E eliminates kinetochore-dependent signaling but not the downstream steps in checkpoint signal transduction. Because it directly binds both to spindle microtubules and to the kinetochore-associated checkpoint kinase BUBR1, CENP-E is a central component in the vertebrate checkpoint that modulates signaling activity in a microtubule-dependent manner.