Structures of SAS-6 suggest its organization in centrioles.

Journal article

Centrioles are cylindrical, ninefold symmetrical structures with peripheral triplet microtubules strictly required to template cilia and flagella. The highly conserved protein SAS-6 constitutes the center of the cartwheel assembly that scaffolds centrioles early in their biogenesis. We determined the x-ray structure of the amino-terminal domain of SAS-6 from zebrafish, and we show that recombinant SAS-6 self-associates in vitro into assemblies that resemble cartwheel centers. Point mutations are consistent with the notion that centriole formation in vivo depends on the interactions that define the self-assemblies observed here. Thus, these interactions are probably essential to the structural organization of cartwheel centers.

Authors: van Breugel, M; Hirono, M; Andreeva, A; Yanagisawa, H; Yamaguchi, S

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.)
• Volume: 331
• Issue: 6021
• Pages: 1196-1199
• Publication date: 2011-03-01
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1199325
• EISSN: 1095-9203
• ISSN: 0036-8075
• Language: English
• Keywords: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii; Amino Acid Motifs; Models, Molecular; Centrioles; Crystallography, X-Ray; Centrosome; Flagella; Cell Cycle Proteins; Mutant Proteins; Humans; Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Recombinant Proteins; Zebrafish Proteins; Zebrafish; Cell Line, Tumor; Protein Multimerization; Animals; Protein Structure, Quaternary; Point Mutation; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions