IISc researchers use light to fix cell division

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a new technique called Light-Induced Spindle Activation (LISA), which can reversibly activate Aurora A kinase, a key centrosomal enzyme critical for spindle assembly.

The institute said that this technique allows scientists to study centrosomes and spindle assembly in much greater detail, besides opening the door to the possibility of rescuing cell division by artificially manipulating these components and processes when they fail.

Scientists believed that Aurora A is activated through clustering, a process promoted in cells by its evolutionarily conserved scaffold, Cep192.

According to the institute, previous work has shown that Aurora A-coated beads can trigger microtubule nucleation in frog egg extracts; however, Cep192 is required for Aurora A activation in this setting.