Centriole and PCM cooperatively recruit CEP192 to spindle poles to promote bipolar spindle assembly

Abstract

The pericentriolar material (PCM) that accumulates around the centriole expands during mitosis and nucleates microtubules. While centrosomes facilitate bipolar spindle formation, the individual functions of the centriole and PCM in mitosis remain elusive. Herein, we show the redundant roles of the centriole and PCM in bipolar spindle formation in human cells. Upon depletion of the PCM scaffold components, pericentrin and CDK5RAP2, centrioles remained able to recruit CEP192 onto their walls, which was sufficient for bipolar spindle formation. In contrast, through centriole removal, we found that pericentrin and CDK5RAP2 recruited CEP192 at the acentriolar spindle pole and facilitated bipolar spindle formation in mitotic cells with one centrosome. Furthermore, the chemical perturbation of polo-like kinase 1, a critical kinase for PCM assembly, efficiently suppressed the proliferation of various cancer cell lines from which centrioles were removed. Overall, these data suggest that the centriole and PCM cooperatively recruit CEP192 to spindle poles and facilitate bipolar spindle formation in human cells.