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Published online December 24, 2007
doi:10.1083/jcb.200706005
The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 179, No. 7, 1347-1354
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $30.00
© 2007 Kimura et al.
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 Local cortical pulling-force repression switches centrosomal centration and posterior displacement in C. elegans

Akatsuki Kimura1,2 and Shuichi Onami1,2

1 Computational and Experimental Systems Biology Group, RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center, Tsurumi, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan
2 Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University, Kohoku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan

Correspondence to S. Onami: sonami{at}gsc.riken.jp

Centrosome positioning is actively regulated by forces acting on microtubules radiating from the centrosomes. Two mechanisms, center-directed and polarized cortical pulling, are major contributors to the successive centering and posteriorly displacing migrations of the centrosomes in single-cell–stage Caenorhabditis elegans. In this study, we analyze the spatial distribution of the forces acting on the centrosomes to examine the mechanism that switches centrosomal migration from centering to displacing. We clarify the spatial distribution of the forces using image processing to measure the micrometer-scale movements of the centrosomes. The changes in distribution show that polarized cortical pulling functions during centering migration. The polarized cortical pulling force directed posteriorly is repressed predominantly in the lateral regions during centering migration and is derepressed during posteriorly displacing migration. Computer simulations show that this local repression of cortical pulling force is sufficient for switching between centering and displacing migration. Local regulation of cortical pulling might be a mechanism conserved for the precise temporal regulation of centrosomal dynamic positioning.

A. Kimura's present address is National Institute of Genetics, Mishima 411-8540, Japan.

Abbreviations used in this paper: AP, anterior-posterior; MT, microtubule; NEBD, nuclear envelope breakdown; WT, wild type.


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