The effect of heat shock on centrosomes has been mainly studied in interphase cells. Centrosomes play a key role in proper segregation of DNA during mitosis. However, the direct effect and consequences of heat shock on mitotic cells and a possible cellular defense system against proteotoxic stress during mitosis have not been described in detail. Here, we show that mild heat shock, applied duri...

In fission yeast, cdc18p plays a critical role in bringing about the onset of S phase. We show that cdc18p expression is subject to a complex sequence of cell cycle controls which ensure that cdc18p levels rise dramatically as cells exit mitosis, before the appearance of CDK activity in G1. We find that transcription of cdc18, together with the transcription of other cdc10p/res1p targets, is fi...

In budding yeast, if the spindle becomes mispositioned, cells prevent exit from mitosis by inhibiting the mitotic exit network (MEN). The MEN is a signaling cascade that localizes to spindle pole bodies (SPBs) and activates the phosphatase Cdc14. There are two competing models that explain MEN regulation by spindle position. In the 'zone model', exit from mitosis occurs when a MEN-bearing SPB e...

Embryonic neocortical development depends on balanced production of progenitors and neurons. Genetic mutations disrupting progenitor mitosis frequently impair neurogenesis; however, the link between altered mitosis and cell fate remains poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that prolonged mitosis of radial glial progenitors directly alters neuronal fate specification and progeny viability. Liv...

The water-soluble glucocorticoid, prednisolone ~l-phosphatc, has been shown to inhibit mitotic activity of normal human leukocytes in short-term culture, with a roughly linear relationship between the log dose of steroid and the percentage decrease in mitosis. Over a concentration range of .002 ug/ml to 10 pg/ml, the mitotic index decreased to 25 per cent of control values. Further studies indi...

Kinesin-5s help assemble the bipolar spindle by crosslinking and sliding apart antiparallel microtubules. A recent study has uncovered a novel pathway for the phospho-regulation of these motors.

Cell volume and dry mass are typically correlated. However, in this issue, Zlotek-Zlotkiewicz et al. (2015. J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201505056) and Son et al. (2015. J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201505058) use new live-cell techniques to show that entry to mitosis coincides with rapid cell swelling, which is reversed before division.

From nuclear pore to kinetochore uclear proteins are turning up in some odd places lately. First, the nuclear-transport factor Ran was implicated in spindle formation. Then, the mitotic checkpoint proteins Mad1 and Mad2 turned up at the nuclear pore, in a switch with the mRNA export factor hRae1, which appeared with the mitotic checkpoint protein mBUB1 at the kinetochore. Now, Belgareh et al. r...

Podocyte loss plays a key role in the progression of glomerular disorders towards glomerulosclerosis and chronic kidney disease. Podocytes form unique cytoplasmic extensions, foot processes, which attach to the outer surface of the glomerular basement membrane and interdigitate with neighboring podocytes to form the slit diaphragm. Maintaining these sophisticated structural elements requires an...