Motor Cooperation During Mitosis and Ciliogenesis

Abstract

Cilia and mitotic spindles are microtubule (MT)-based, macromolecular machines that consecutively assemble and disassemble during interphase and M phase of the cell cycle, respectively, and play fundamental roles in how eukaryotic cells swim through a fluid, sense their environment, and divide to reproduce themselves. The formation and function of these structures depend on several types of cytoskeletal motors, notably MT-based kinesins and dyneins, supplemented by actin-based myosins, which may function independently or collaboratively during specific steps in the pathway of mitosis or ciliogenesis. System-specific differences in these pathways occur because, instead of conforming to a simple one motor–one function rule, ciliary and mitotic motors can be deployed differently by different cell types. This reflects the well-known influence of natural selection on basic molecular processes, creating diversity at subcellular scales. Here we review our current understanding of motor function and cooperation during the assembly–disassembly, maintenance, and functions of cilia and mitotic spindles.