Identification of a Role for β-Catenin in the Establishment of a Bipolar Mitotic Spindle

β-Catenin is a multifunctional protein that is known to participate in two well defined cellular processes, cell-cell adhesion and Wnt-stimulated transcriptional activation. Here we report that β-catenin participates in a third cellular process, the establishment of a bipolar mitotic spindle. During...

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Published inThe Journal of biological chemistry Vol. 279; no. 12; pp. 10829 - 10832
Main Authors Kaplan, Daniel D., Meigs, Thomas E., Kelly, Patrick, Casey, Patrick J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 19.03.2004
Subjects
Animals
beta Catenin
Cell Line
Cytoskeletal Proteins - physiology
Humans
RNA Interference
Spindle Apparatus - physiology
Trans-Activators - physiology
Xenopus
Xenopus Proteins
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Summary:β-Catenin is a multifunctional protein that is known to participate in two well defined cellular processes, cell-cell adhesion and Wnt-stimulated transcriptional activation. Here we report that β-catenin participates in a third cellular process, the establishment of a bipolar mitotic spindle. During mitosis, β-catenin relocalizes to mitotic spindle poles and to the midbody. Furthermore, biochemical fractionation demonstrates the presence of β-catenin in purified centrosome preparations. Reduction of cellular β-catenin by RNA interference leads to the failure of centrosomes to fully separate, resulting in a marked increase in the frequency of monoastral mitotic spindles. Our results define a new and important function for β-catenin in mitosis and demonstrate that β-catenin is involved in vital biological processes beyond cell adhesion and Wnt signaling.
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ISSN:0021-9258
1083-351X
DOI:10.1074/jbc.C400035200