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The research, led by the UGR and published in the renowned journal Scientific Reports (from the Nature group), has identified a new component of cytokinesis, the process that causes the segmentation of the cytoplasm at the end of the cell division to give rise to two daughter cells
An international group of scientists, led by the University of Granada (UGR), has made an unexpected finding about animal cytokinesis, the cellular process that causes the segmentation or division of the cytoplasm to give rise to two daughter cells.
This work, which has counted with the participation of Canadian researchers and has been published in the renowned journal Scientific Reports belonging to Nature Publishing Group, has identified the Neuronal Apoptosis Inhibitory Protein (NAIP) throughout cytokinesis.
The study basically used microscopic techniques (confocal microscopy and super-resolution microscopy) to show the dynamic of NAIP during the final stages of cell division.
The scientists responsible for this study hope that this finding, whose first signs were observed in a research that did not address issues about cell division, may lead to other studies that allow a better analysis of the molecular mechanisms that control the final stages of cellular division.
As explained by the main author of this paper, Francisco Abadía-Molina, from the department of Cellular Biology at the UGR, «knowing the basic mechanisms that control cell division is fundamental to understand processes such as development, growth, tissue maintenance and regeneration, or what are the causes that lead to proliferative pathologies such as cancer, which would allow us to identify new therapeutic targets and strategies».
From a proliferative point of view, every cell in our organism is governed by the cell cycle, which will determine when a cell must divide to give rise to two new daughter cells, or if said cell must remain in a state of non-proliferation.
The last stage of the cell cycle is cell division, which comprehends mitosis and cytokinesis. Cytokinesis consists of the segmentation and final partition of the cell that is being divided to give rise to two new cells.
Researchers have now found that, during the metaphase, NAIP accumulates at the poles of the mitotic spindle and is seen in the spindle microtubules. At the beginning of the cytokinesis, it is located in the middle spindle, the central area of the mitotic apparatus that defines the plane of cell division. Finally, as the dividing cell is being strangled, the NAIP concentrates in the middle region of the stem body, the last physical connection between the cells that are separating.
The research adds a new function to the already known antiapoptotic (anti cellular suicide) properties of NAIP, the first identified member of the antiapoptotic family (IAPs) in mammals. And also, to the participation of NAIP in the innate immune system, since NAIP is a major component of the NLRC4 inflammasome.
Bibliographic references:
Neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein (NAIP) localizes to the cytokinetic machinery during cell division
Francisco Abadía-Molina, Virginia Morón-Calvente, Stephen D. Baird, Fahad Shamim, Francisco Martín & Alex MacKenzie
Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 39981 (2017)
DOI: 10.1038/srep39981
1. Cell at the beginning of cytokinesis showing the NAIP protein (red), colocalized with other component of cytokinesis (green) in the central region of the middle spindle.
2. NAIP (red) in the middle of the stem body between two cells that have just divided.
3. UGR researcher Francisco Abadía-Molina, lead author of this paper.
Contact:
Francisco Abadía-Molina
Departamento de Biología Celular (Department of Cell Biology), UGR
Telephone: (+34) 958 240 762
Biomedical Research Centre
Telephone: (+34) 958 241 000 Ext. 20016
E-mail: fmolina@ugr.es
