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Updated: Jul 29, 2026

Studying Mitotic Checkpoint by Illustrating Dynamic Kinetochore Protein Behavior and Chromosome Motion in Living Drosophila Syncytial Embryos
Published on: June 14, 2012
Dissecting temporal and spatial control of cytokinesis with a myosin II Inhibitor
Aaron F Straight1, Amy Cheung, John Limouze
1Department of Cell Biology and Institute of Chemistry and Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 250 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. aaron_straight@hms.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Completion of cell division during cytokinesis requires temporally and spatially regulated communication from the microtubule cytoskeleton to the actin cytoskeleton and the cell membrane. We identified a specific inhibitor of nonmuscle myosin II, blebbistatin, that inhibited contraction of the cleavage furrow without disrupting mitosis or contractile ring assembly. Using blebbistatin and other drugs, we showed that exit from the cytokinetic phase of the cell cycle depends on ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Continuous signals from microtubules are required to maintain the position of the cleavage furrow, and these signals control the localization of myosin II independently of other furrow components.
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