Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, U.K.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2021 Jun 30;49(3):1233-1240. doi: 10.1042/BST20200833.
Centrioles are important cellular organelles involved in the formation of both cilia and centrosomes. It is therefore not surprising that their dysfunction may lead to a variety of human pathologies. Studies have identified a conserved pathway of proteins required for centriole formation, and investigations using the embryo of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster have been crucial in elucidating their dynamics. However, a full understanding of how these components interact has been hampered by the total absence of centrioles in null mutant backgrounds for any of these core centriole factors. Here, I review our recent work describing a new model for investigating these interactions in the absence of bona fide centrioles. Sas-6 Ana2 Particles (SAPs) form when two core centriole factors, Sas-6 and Ana2, are co-over-expressed in fruit fly eggs. Crucially, they form even in eggs lacking other core centriole proteins. I review our characterisation of SAPs, and provide one example of how they have been used to investigate the role of a core centriole protein in PCM formation. I then consider some of the strengths and weaknesses of the SAP model, and discuss them in the context of other models for centriole study in Drosophila. Similar aggregates have been seen in other systems upon expression of centriole factors, so SAPs may also be a useful approach to study centriole proteins in other organisms.
中心体是参与纤毛和中心体形成的重要细胞细胞器。因此，它们的功能障碍可能导致各种人类疾病也就不足为奇了。研究已经确定了中心体形成所需的蛋白质保守途径，利用果蝇胚胎的研究对于阐明其动力学至关重要。然而，由于在任何这些核心中心体因子的缺失突变体背景中完全缺乏中心体，因此对这些组件如何相互作用的全面理解受到了阻碍。在这里，我回顾了我们最近的工作，描述了一种在没有真正中心体的情况下研究这些相互作用的新模型。当两种核心中心体因子 Sas-6 和 Ana2 在果蝇卵中共同过表达时，就会形成 Sas-6 Ana2 颗粒 (SAPs)。至关重要的是，即使在缺乏其他核心中心体蛋白的卵中，它们也会形成。我回顾了 SAPs 的特征，并提供了一个示例，说明它们如何用于研究核心中心体蛋白在 PCM 形成中的作用。然后，我考虑了 SAP 模型的一些优点和缺点，并在研究果蝇中心体的其他模型的背景下对其进行了讨论。在表达中心体因子后，在其他系统中也观察到了类似的聚集物，因此 SAP 也可能是研究其他生物体中心体蛋白的有用方法。
