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Regulation of Chromosome Speeds in Mitosis

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Abstract

When chromosomes are being separated in preparation for cell division, their motions are slow (~16 nm/s) relative to the speed at which many motor enzymes can move their cellular cargoes (160–1000 nm/s and sometimes even faster) and at which microtubules depolymerize (∼200 nm/s). Indeed, anaphase chromosome speeds are so slow that viscous drag puts little load on the mechanisms that generate the relevant forces (Nicklas, Adv. Cell Biol. 2:225, 1971). Available evidence suggests that chromosome speed is due to some form of regulation. For example, big and little chromosomes move at about the same speed, chromosomes that have farther to go move faster than others, and chromosome speed is affected by both temperature and an experimentally applied load. In this essay we review data on these phenomena and present our ideas about likely properties of the mechanisms that regulate chromosome speed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Loren Hough, Fazly Ataullakhanov and members of their labs for helpful discussions. This work was supported by NSF CAREER Award DMR-0847685 to MDB and GM033587 to JRM.

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  1. Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    M. D. Betterton

  2. Department of MCD Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    J. Richard McIntosh

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Betterton, M.D., McIntosh, J.R. Regulation of Chromosome Speeds in Mitosis. Cel. Mol. Bioeng. 6, 418–430 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12195-013-0297-4

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