Long-range communication between chromatin and microtubules in Xenopus egg extracts

The mitotic spindle of animal cells is a bipolar array of microtubules that guides chromosome segregation during cell division. It has been proposed that during spindle assembly chromatin can positively influence microtubule stability at a distance from its surface throughout its neighboring cytoplasm. However, such an "à distance" effect has never been visualized directly. Here, we have used centrosomal microtubules and chromatin beads to probe the regulation of microtubule behavior around chromatin in Xenopus egg extracts. We show that, in this system, chromatin does affect microtubule formation at a distance, inducing preferential orientation of centrosomal microtubules in its direction. Moreover, this asymmetric distribution of microtubules is translated into a directional migration of centrosomal asters toward chromatin and their steady-state repositioning within 10 microm of chromatin. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence of a long-range guidance effect at the sub-cellular level.