A CEP215 HSET complex links centrosomes with spindle poles and drives centrosome clustering in cancer
Numerical centrosome aberrations underlie certain developmental abnormalities and may promote cancer. A cell maintains normal centrosome numbers by coupling centrosome duplication with segregation, which is achieved through sustained association of each centrosome with a mitotic spindle pole. Although the microcephaly and primordial dwarfism linked centrosomal protein CEP215 has been implicated in this process, the molecular mechanism responsible remains unclear. Here, using proteomic profiling, we identify the minus end directed microtubule motor protein HSET as a direct binding partner of CEP215. Targeted deletion of the HSET binding domain of CEP215 in vertebrate cells causes centrosome detachment and results in HSET depletion at centrosomes, a phenotype also observed in CEP215 deficient patient derived cells. Moreover, in cancer cells with centrosome amplification, the CEP215 HSET complex promotes the clustering of extra centrosomes into pseudo bipolar spindles, thereby ensuring viable cell division. Therefore, stabilization of the centrosome spindle pole interface by the CEP215 HSET complex could promote survival of cancer cells containing supernumerary centrosomes.
Nature communications