Molecular Immunology Unit and Centre for Immunodeficiency, UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Blood. 2012 Nov 1;120(18):3803-11. doi: 10.1182/blood-2012-03-419663. Epub 2012 Sep 12.
The constitutively active mutant of the Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (CA-WASp) is the cause of X-linked neutropenia and is linked with genomic instability and myelodysplasia. CA-WASp generates abnormally high levels of cytoplasmic F-actin through dysregulated activation of the Arp2/3 complex leading to defects in cell division. As WASp has no reported role in cell division, we hypothesized that alteration of cell mechanics because of increased F-actin may indirectly disrupt dynamic events during mitosis. Inhibition of the Arp2/3 complex revealed that excess cytoplasmic F-actin caused increased cellular viscosity, slowed all phases of mitosis, and perturbed mitotic mechanics. Comparison of chromosome velocity to the cytoplasmic viscosity revealed that cells compensated for increased viscosity by up-regulating force applied to chromosomes and increased the density of microtubules at kinetochores. Mitotic abnormalities were because of overload of the aurora signaling pathway as subcritical inhibition of Aurora in CA-WASp cells caused increased cytokinesis failure, while overexpression reduced defects. These findings demonstrate that changes in cell mechanics can cause significant mitotic abnormalities leading to genomic instability, and highlight the importance of mechanical sensors such as Aurora B in maintaining the fidelity of hematopoietic cell division.
Wiskott-Aldrich 综合征蛋白(CA-WASp)的组成性激活突变是 X 连锁中性粒细胞减少症的病因,与基因组不稳定性和骨髓增生异常有关。CA-WASp 通过失调激活 Arp2/3 复合物导致细胞分裂缺陷,从而产生异常高水平的细胞质 F-肌动蛋白。由于 WASp 在细胞分裂中没有报道的作用,我们假设由于 F-肌动蛋白增加而导致的细胞力学的改变可能会间接破坏有丝分裂期间的动态事件。Arp2/3 复合物的抑制表明,过多的细胞质 F-肌动蛋白导致细胞黏度增加,使有丝分裂的所有阶段都减慢,并扰乱有丝分裂力学。将染色体速度与细胞质黏度进行比较表明,细胞通过增加施加在染色体上的力和增加动粒处微管的密度来补偿增加的黏度。有丝分裂异常是由于 Aurora 信号通路的过载所致,因为 CA-WASp 细胞中 Aurora 的亚临界抑制导致胞质分裂失败增加,而过表达则减少缺陷。这些发现表明,细胞力学的变化会导致严重的有丝分裂异常,从而导致基因组不稳定性,并强调了机械传感器(如 Aurora B)在维持造血细胞分裂保真度方面的重要性。