Griffis Eric R.

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Griffis
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Eric R.
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  • Article
    The nucleoporin ALADIN regulates Aurora A localization to ensure robust mitotic spindle formation
    (American Society for Cell Biology, 2015-08-05) Carvalhal, Sara ; Ribeiro, Susana Abreu ; Arocena, Miguel ; Kasciukovic, Taciana ; Temme, Achim ; Koehler, Katrin ; Huebner, Angela ; Griffis, Eric R.
    The formation of the mitotic spindle is a complex process that requires massive cellular reorganization. Regulation by mitotic kinases controls this entire process. One of these mitotic controllers is Aurora A kinase, which is itself highly regulated. In this study, we show that the nuclear pore protein ALADIN is a novel spatial regulator of Aurora A. Without ALADIN, Aurora A spreads from centrosomes onto spindle microtubules, which affects the distribution of a subset of microtubule regulators and slows spindle assembly and chromosome alignment. ALADIN interacts with inactive Aurora A and is recruited to the spindle pole after Aurora A inhibition. Of interest, mutations in ALADIN cause triple A syndrome. We find that some of the mitotic phenotypes that we observe after ALADIN depletion also occur in cells from triple A syndrome patients, which raises the possibility that mitotic errors may underlie part of the etiology of this syndrome.
  • Article
    Dynamics of myosin, microtubules, and Kinesin-6 at the cortex during cytokinesis in Drosophila S2 cells
    (Rockefeller University Press, 2009-08) Vale, Ronald D. ; Spudich, James A. ; Griffis, Eric R.
    Signals from the mitotic spindle during anaphase specify the location of the actomyosin contractile ring during cytokinesis, but the detailed mechanism remains unresolved. Here, we have imaged the dynamics of green fluorescent protein–tagged myosin filaments, microtubules, and Kinesin-6 (which carries activators of Rho guanosine triphosphatase) at the cell cortex using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy in flattened Drosophila S2 cells. At anaphase onset, Kinesin-6 relocalizes to microtubule plus ends that grow toward the cortex, but refines its localization over time so that it concentrates on a subset of stable microtubules and along a diffuse cortical band at the equator. The pattern of Kinesin-6 localization closely resembles where new myosin filaments appear at the cortex by de novo assembly. While accumulating at the equator, myosin filaments disappear from the poles of the cell, a process that also requires Kinesin-6 as well as possibly other signals that emanate from the elongating spindle. These results suggest models for how Kinesin-6 might define the position of cortical myosin during cytokinesis.