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Abstract:
The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) is a feedback control system that
monitors the state of kinetochore/microtubule attachment during mitosis
and halts cell cycle progression until all chromosomes are properly
aligned at the metaphase plate. The state of chromosome-microtubule
attachment is implicated as a crucial factor in the checkpoint response.
On the contrary, lack of tension in the centromere-kinetochore region of
sister chromatids has been shown to regulate a pathway of correction of
undesired chromosome-microtubule connections, while the presence of
tension is believed to promote the stabilization of attachments. We
discuss how tension-sensitive phenomena, such as attachment correction
and stabilization, relate to the SAC and we speculate on the existence
of a single pathway linking error correction and SAC activation.
