The pericentriolar material (PCM) is created through an extensively interacting network of proteins including SPD-5, SPD-2, and PLK-1. Previously, it was not known whether these proteins formed smaller complexes in the cytoplasm before entering the PCM, or if the interactions only occur as the proteins are incorporated into the PCM matrix. This work, led by graduate student Oliver Wueseke and just published in Molecular Biology of the Cell, shows that these PCM components interact only in the context of PCM assembly, and not in the cytoplasm.
Wueseke O, Bunkenborg J, Hein MY, Zinke A, Viscardi V, Woodruff JB, Oegema K, Mann M, Andersen JS, Hyman AA. The C. elegans pericentriolar material components SPD-2 and SPD-5 are monomeric in the cytoplasm prior to incorporation into the PCM matrix. Mol Biol Cell. 2014 Aug 7. pii: mbc.E13-09-0514. [Epub ahead of print] [PubMed]
