NCBI Summary:
This gene is one of two human homologs of Drosophila bicaudal-D and a member of the Bicoid family. It has been implicated in dynein-mediated, minus end-directed motility along microtubules. It has also been reported to be a phosphorylation target of NIMA related kinase 8. Two alternative splice variants have been described. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
General function
Microtubule binding, Cytoskeleton organization
Comment
Cellular localization
Cytoskeleton
Comment
Ovarian function
Oocyte maturation
Comment
A three-step MTOC fragmentation mechanism facilitates bipolar spindle assembly in mouse oocytes. Clift D et al. (2015) Assembly of a bipolar microtubule spindle is essential for accurate chromosome segregation. In somatic cells, spindle bipolarity is determined by the presence of exactly two centrosomes. Remarkably, mammalian oocytes do not contain canonical centrosomes. This study reveals that mouse oocytes assemble a bipolar spindle by fragmenting multiple acentriolar microtubule-organizing centres (MTOCs) into a high number of small MTOCs to be able to then regroup and merge them into two equal spindle poles. We show that MTOCs are fragmented in a three-step process. First, PLK1 triggers a decondensation of the MTOC structure. Second, BicD2-anchored dynein stretches the MTOCs into fragmented ribbons along the nuclear envelope. Third, KIF11 further fragments the MTOCs following nuclear envelope breakdown so that they can be evenly distributed towards the two spindle poles. Failure to fragment MTOCs leads to defects in spindle assembly, which delay chromosome individualization and congression, putting the oocyte at risk of aneuploidy.//////////////////