“Getting a Grip on Disordered Regions: How the Ndc80 Kinetochore Complex Binds Microtubules”

“Getting a Grip on Disordered Regions: How the Ndc80 Kinetochore Complex Binds Microtubules”

Greg Alushin — Nogales Lab, Biophysics Graduate Group, UC Berkeley

The Ndc80 complex is the primary conserved interface between chromosomes and the spindle microtubules which segregate them during mitosis. Using cryo-electron microscopy and biochemical analyses we have generated a detailed molecular model of the interaction between tubulin and the complex, which consists of an intricate embrace between globular domains and extended “tails” of both molecules that become ordered upon binding.  These results suggest a mechanism by which correct engagements between kinetochores and the spindle can be selectively stabilized.