Identification of interphase functions for the NIMA kinase involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway.

The Never in Mitosis A (NIMA) kinase (the founding member of the Nek family of kinases) has been considered a mitotic specific kinase with nuclear restricted roles in the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. By extending to A. nidulans the results of a synthetic lethal screen performed in Saccharomyce...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Meera Govindaraghavan, Sarah Lea McGuire Anglin, Kuo-Fang Shen, Nandini Shukla, Colin P De Souza, Stephen A Osmani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-03-01
Series:PLoS Genetics
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3967960?pdf=render
_version_ 1818693055293685760
author Meera Govindaraghavan
Sarah Lea McGuire Anglin
Kuo-Fang Shen
Nandini Shukla
Colin P De Souza
Stephen A Osmani
author_facet Meera Govindaraghavan
Sarah Lea McGuire Anglin
Kuo-Fang Shen
Nandini Shukla
Colin P De Souza
Stephen A Osmani
author_sort Meera Govindaraghavan
collection DOAJ
description The Never in Mitosis A (NIMA) kinase (the founding member of the Nek family of kinases) has been considered a mitotic specific kinase with nuclear restricted roles in the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. By extending to A. nidulans the results of a synthetic lethal screen performed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using the NIMA ortholog KIN3, we identified a conserved genetic interaction between nimA and genes encoding proteins of the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) pathway. Absence of ESCRT pathway functions in combination with partial NIMA function causes enhanced cell growth defects, including an inability to maintain a single polarized dominant cell tip. These genetic insights suggest NIMA potentially has interphase functions in addition to its established mitotic functions at nuclei. We therefore generated endogenously GFP-tagged NIMA (NIMA-GFP) which was fully functional to follow its interphase locations using live cell spinning disc 4D confocal microscopy. During interphase some NIMA-GFP locates to the tips of rapidly growing cells and, when expressed ectopically, also locates to the tips of cytoplasmic microtubules, suggestive of non-nuclear interphase functions. In support of this, perturbation of NIMA function either by ectopic overexpression or through partial inactivation results in marked cell tip growth defects with excess NIMA-GFP promoting multiple growing cell tips. Ectopic NIMA-GFP was found to locate to the plus ends of microtubules in an EB1 dependent manner, while impairing NIMA function altered the dynamic localization of EB1 and the cytoplasmic microtubule network. Together, our genetic and cell biological analyses reveal novel non-nuclear interphase functions for NIMA involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway for normal polarized fungal cell tip growth. These insights extend the roles of NIMA both spatially and temporally and indicate that this conserved protein kinase could help integrate cell cycle progression with polarized cell growth.
first_indexed 2024-12-17T13:07:36Z
format Article
id doaj.art-0125e605a9c94581b748dfd131c1c284
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1553-7390
1553-7404
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-17T13:07:36Z
publishDate 2014-03-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS Genetics
spelling doaj.art-0125e605a9c94581b748dfd131c1c2842022-12-21T21:47:12ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042014-03-01103e100424810.1371/journal.pgen.1004248Identification of interphase functions for the NIMA kinase involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway.Meera GovindaraghavanSarah Lea McGuire AnglinKuo-Fang ShenNandini ShuklaColin P De SouzaStephen A OsmaniThe Never in Mitosis A (NIMA) kinase (the founding member of the Nek family of kinases) has been considered a mitotic specific kinase with nuclear restricted roles in the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. By extending to A. nidulans the results of a synthetic lethal screen performed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using the NIMA ortholog KIN3, we identified a conserved genetic interaction between nimA and genes encoding proteins of the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) pathway. Absence of ESCRT pathway functions in combination with partial NIMA function causes enhanced cell growth defects, including an inability to maintain a single polarized dominant cell tip. These genetic insights suggest NIMA potentially has interphase functions in addition to its established mitotic functions at nuclei. We therefore generated endogenously GFP-tagged NIMA (NIMA-GFP) which was fully functional to follow its interphase locations using live cell spinning disc 4D confocal microscopy. During interphase some NIMA-GFP locates to the tips of rapidly growing cells and, when expressed ectopically, also locates to the tips of cytoplasmic microtubules, suggestive of non-nuclear interphase functions. In support of this, perturbation of NIMA function either by ectopic overexpression or through partial inactivation results in marked cell tip growth defects with excess NIMA-GFP promoting multiple growing cell tips. Ectopic NIMA-GFP was found to locate to the plus ends of microtubules in an EB1 dependent manner, while impairing NIMA function altered the dynamic localization of EB1 and the cytoplasmic microtubule network. Together, our genetic and cell biological analyses reveal novel non-nuclear interphase functions for NIMA involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway for normal polarized fungal cell tip growth. These insights extend the roles of NIMA both spatially and temporally and indicate that this conserved protein kinase could help integrate cell cycle progression with polarized cell growth.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3967960?pdf=render
spellingShingle Meera Govindaraghavan
Sarah Lea McGuire Anglin
Kuo-Fang Shen
Nandini Shukla
Colin P De Souza
Stephen A Osmani
Identification of interphase functions for the NIMA kinase involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway.
PLoS Genetics
title Identification of interphase functions for the NIMA kinase involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway.
title_full Identification of interphase functions for the NIMA kinase involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway.
title_fullStr Identification of interphase functions for the NIMA kinase involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway.
title_full_unstemmed Identification of interphase functions for the NIMA kinase involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway.
title_short Identification of interphase functions for the NIMA kinase involving microtubules and the ESCRT pathway.
title_sort identification of interphase functions for the nima kinase involving microtubules and the escrt pathway
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3967960?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT meeragovindaraghavan identificationofinterphasefunctionsforthenimakinaseinvolvingmicrotubulesandtheescrtpathway
AT sarahleamcguireanglin identificationofinterphasefunctionsforthenimakinaseinvolvingmicrotubulesandtheescrtpathway
AT kuofangshen identificationofinterphasefunctionsforthenimakinaseinvolvingmicrotubulesandtheescrtpathway
AT nandinishukla identificationofinterphasefunctionsforthenimakinaseinvolvingmicrotubulesandtheescrtpathway
AT colinpdesouza identificationofinterphasefunctionsforthenimakinaseinvolvingmicrotubulesandtheescrtpathway
AT stephenaosmani identificationofinterphasefunctionsforthenimakinaseinvolvingmicrotubulesandtheescrtpathway