Autophosphorylation of a Newly Identified Site of Aurora-B Is Indispensable for Cytokinesis

Yoshihiro Yasui, Takeshi Urano, Aie Kawajiri, Koh Ichi Nagata, Masaaki Tatsuka, Hideyuki Saya, Koichi Furukawa, Toshitada Takahashi, Ichiro Izawa, Masaki Inagaki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

198 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Mitotic kinases regulate cell division and its checkpoints, errors of which can lead to aneuploidy or genetic instability. One of these is Aurora-B, a key kinase that is required for chromosome alignment at the metaphase plate and for cytokinesis in mammalian cells. We report here that human Aurora-B is phosphorylated at Thr-232 through interaction with the inner centromere protein (INCENP) in vivo. The phosphorylation of Thr-232 occurs by means of an autophosphorylation mechanism, which is indispensable for the Aurora-B kinase activity. The activation of Aurora-B spatio-temporally correlated with the site-specific phosphorylation of its physiological substrates, histone H3 and vimentin. Overexpression of the TA mutant of Aurora-B, in which Thr-232 was changed into alanine, frequently induced multinuclearity in cells. These results indicate that the phosphorylation of Thr-232 is an essential regulatory mechanism for Aurora-B activation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)12997-13003
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume279
Issue number13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26-03-2004
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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