Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

The centrosome: built on an mRNA?

Nature Cell Biology volume 8, pages 652–654 (2006)Cite this article

The mode of propagation of the centrosome has suggested the participation of nucleic acid but four decades of inquiry have been inconclusive. A recent study has provided evidence that centrosomes isolated from clam oocytes are associated with specific RNAs, at least one of which seems to be an mRNA.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The centriole, as described by Theodor Boveri in an egg of the roundworm Ascaris megalocephala.
Figure 2: Electron micrograph of the clam oocyte centrosome fraction used by Alliegro et al.6.

References

  1. Wheatley, D. N. The Centriole: A Central Enigma of Cell Biology (Elsevier, Amsterdam and New York, 1982).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Wilson, E. B. The Cell in Development and Heredity 3rd edn (Macmillan, New York, 1925).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Gall, J. G. in Centrosomes in Development and Disease (ed. Nigg, E. A.) 3–15 (Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2004).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Sluder, G. & Hinchcliffe, E. H. Biol. Cell 91, 413–427 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Marshall, W. F. & Rosenbaum, J. L. Curr. Topics Dev. Biol. 49, 187–205 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Alliegro, M. C., Alliegro, M. A. & Palazzo, R. E. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA doi:10.1073/pnas.0602859103 (2006).

  7. Klotz, C. et al. J. Cell Biol. 110, 405–415 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Reider, C. L. J. Cell Biol. 80, 1–9 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Went, H. A. J. Theoret. Biol. 68, 95–100 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Mello, C. C. & Conte, D., Jr Nature 431, 338–342 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Han, J. W., Park, J. H., Kim, M. & Lee, J. J. Cell Biol. 137, 871–879 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Seaman, G. R. Exp. Cell Res. 21, 292–302 (1960).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Argetsinger, J. J. Cell Biol. 24, 154–157 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Hoffman, E. J. J. Cell Biol. 25, 217–228 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Dippel, R. V. J. Cell. Biol. 69, 622–637 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gall, J.G. A Pictorial History. Views of the Cell (American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Vogel, J.M., Stearns, T., Reider, C.L. & Palazzo, R.E. J. Cell Biol. 137, 193–202 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Joseph Gall (Carnegie Institution, Baltimore, MD) is gratefully acknowledged for kindly providing Fig. 1. The author wishes to pay tribute to his postdoctoral mentor, the late Elliott Robbins, an early investigator of centriole replication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Cell Dynamics and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 377 Plantation St, Worcester, 01605, MA, USA

    Thoru Pederson

Authors
  1. Thoru Pederson
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pederson, T. The centrosome: built on an mRNA?. Nat Cell Biol 8, 652–654 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0706-652

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0706-652

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing