This proposal focuses on the mechanism of cytokinesis and cortical flow in Xenopus oocytes. The applicant's group reported the finding that treatment of frog oocytes/eggs with the phorbol ester, PMA, leads to cortical contraction and the formation of cleavage furrows. Using this cortical activity as a model, Dr. Bement proposes to investigate the regulation of reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in the cortex during cell cleavage. He provides considerable amounts of preliminary data including the important observation that the cortical flow appears to be directly related to the level of microtubule polymerization and depolymerization. In order to evaluate the role of microtubule involvement in the process of actin/myosin rearrangement, Dr. Bement proposes following three specific aims: 1) microtubule effects on myosin assembly will be monitored by both sedimentation analysis and microscopy. The level of myosin phosphorylation will be compared with its ability to form aggregates under the condition to stimulate microtubule disassembly. 2) The process of myosin reorganization will be repeated in a cell free system using frog egg extracts. 3) Cytoskeletal reorganization during cortical flow will be monitored by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. 4) Finally, he will determine the effect of MAPs on cortical flow by identifying Xenopus MAP(s).
| Sandquist, Joshua C; Larson, Matthew E; Woolner, Sarah et al. (2018) An interaction between myosin-10 and the cell cycle regulator Wee1 links spindle dynamics to mitotic progression in epithelia. J Cell Biol 217:849-859 |
| Varjabedian, Ani; Kita, Angela; Bement, William (2018) Living Xenopus oocytes, eggs, and embryos as models for cell division. Methods Cell Biol 144:259-285 |
| Breznau, Elaina B; Murt, Megan; Blasius, T Lynne et al. (2017) The MgcRacGAP SxIP motif tethers Centralspindlin to microtubule plus ends in Xenopus laevis. J Cell Sci 130:1809-1821 |
| Larson, Matthew E; Bement, William M (2017) Automated mitotic spindle tracking suggests a link between spindle dynamics, spindle orientation, and anaphase onset in epithelial cells. Mol Biol Cell 28:746-759 |
| Holmes, William R; Golding, Adriana E; Bement, William M et al. (2016) A mathematical model of GTPase pattern formation during single-cell wound repair. Interface Focus 6:20160032 |
| Severson, Aaron F; von Dassow, George; Bowerman, Bruce (2016) Oocyte Meiotic Spindle Assembly and Function. Curr Top Dev Biol 116:65-98 |
| Goryachev, Andrew B; Leda, Marcin; Miller, Ann L et al. (2016) How to make a static cytokinetic furrow out of traveling excitable waves. Small GTPases 7:65-70 |
| Davenport, Nicholas R; Bement, William M (2016) Cell repair: Revisiting the patch hypothesis. Commun Integr Biol 9:e1253643 |
| Davenport, Nicholas R; Sonnemann, Kevin J; Eliceiri, Kevin W et al. (2016) Membrane dynamics during cellular wound repair. Mol Biol Cell 27:2272-85 |
| Sandquist, Joshua C; Larson, Matthew E; Hine, Ken J (2016) Myosin-10 independently influences mitotic spindle structure and mitotic progression. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken) 73:351-64 |
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