24 January 2013

A kinase recruiting a phosphatase to the kinetochore:

The proper segregation of chromosomes is regulated by a balance of kinase and phosphatase activities. In collaboration with the Protein Production Facility, the Nilsson group has now uncovered a novel and unusual aspect of how the PP2A phosphatase is recruited to kinetochores. Strikingly the BubR1 kinase contains a conserved region that binds the B56-PP2A complex and this is required for the localization of the B56-PP2A complex to kinetochores and proper chromosome segregation. This has important implications for understanding the role of PP2A and BubR1 as tumor suppressors. The study is published in Journal of Cell Science. Chromosome segregation