Changes in spindle morphology driven by TPX2 overexpression in MYC-driven breast cancer cells

The MYC oncogene was previously shown to induce mitotic spindle defects, chromosome instability, and reliance on the microtubule-associated protein TPX2 to survive, but how TPX2 levels affect spindle morphology in cancer cells has not previously been examined in detail. We show that breast cancer cell lines expressing high levels of MYC and TPX2 possess shorter spindles with increased TPX2 localization at spindle poles. A similar effect was observed in non-transformed human RPE-1 cells compared to a tumor cell line (HeLa) that overexpresses MYC . These results demonstrate that TPX2 alters spindle length and morphology in cancer cells, which may contribute their ability to divide despite MYC-induced mitotic stress.