Autophosphorylation of a newly identified site of Aurora-B is indispensable for cytokinesis.
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Yasui Y, Urano T, Kawajiri A, Nagata K, Tatsuka M, Saya H, Furukawa K, Takahashi T, Izawa I, Inagaki M
Autophosphorylation of a newly identified site of Aurora-B is indispensable for cytokinesis.
J Biol Chem. 2004 Mar 26;279(13):12997-3003. Epub 2004 Jan 13.
- PubMed ID
- 14722118 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
Mitotic kinases regulate cell division and its checkpoints, errors of which can lead to aneuploidy or genetic instability. One of these is Aurora-B, a key kinase that is required for chromosome alignment at the metaphase plate and for cytokinesis in mammalian cells. We report here that human Aurora-B is phosphorylated at Thr-232 through interaction with the inner centromere protein (INCENP) in vivo. The phosphorylation of Thr-232 occurs by means of an autophosphorylation mechanism, which is indispensable for the Aurora-B kinase activity. The activation of Aurora-B spatio-temporally correlated with the site-specific phosphorylation of its physiological substrates, histone H3 and vimentin. Overexpression of the TA mutant of Aurora-B, in which Thr-232 was changed into alanine, frequently induced multinuclearity in cells. These results indicate that the phosphorylation of Thr-232 is an essential regulatory mechanism for Aurora-B activation.