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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Isolation and Fluorescence Imaging for Single-particle Reconstruction of Chlamydomonas Centrioles
Published on: September 21, 2018
Acto-myosin force organization modulates centriole separation and PLK4 recruitment to ensure centriole fidelity
Elisa Vitiello1, Philippe Moreau2, Vanessa Nunes3,4
1Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de Physique, Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble 1), Domaine universitaire, Bat. E45 140, Rue de la physique, BP 87, 38402, Saint Martin d'Hères, Cedex 9, France. elisa.vitiello@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr.
Abstract:
The presence of aberrant number of centrioles is a recognized cause of aneuploidy and hallmark of cancer. Hence, centriole duplication needs to be tightly regulated. It has been proposed that centriole separation limits centrosome duplication. The mechanism driving centriole separation is poorly understood and little is known on how this is linked to centriole duplication. Here, we propose that actin-generated forces regulate centriole separation. By imposing geometric constraints via micropatterns, we were able to prove that precise acto-myosin force arrangements control direction, distance and time of centriole separation. Accordingly, inhibition of acto-myosin contractility impairs centriole separation. Alongside, we observed that organization of acto-myosin force modulates specifically the length of S-G2 phases of the cell cycle, PLK4 recruitment at the centrosome and centriole fidelity. These discoveries led us to suggest that acto-myosin forces might act in fundamental mechanisms of aneuploidy prevention.
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