Interfering with mitosis is a potential cancer therapy strategy. However, the lack of controllability of anti-mitotic drugs in cell growth suppression causes severe side effects and limits their clinical utility. Herein, we developed an azobenzene-based photoswitchable inhibitor of CENP-E, a mitotic kinesin required for chromosome transportation. The new inhibitor enabled reversible photoswitching of CENP-E activity with ~10fold change in IC50 between cis and trans photoisomerization states both in vitro and in living cells. It also enabled repeatable photoswitching of CENP-E-dependent chromosome congression and hence mitotic progression with UV/Vis light illumination cycles. Using this technique, we could specify the exact process of mitotic progression in which CENP-E plays an indispensable role. Our data demonstrate the power of photochemical approach for highly controllable mitotic interference as well as for discovery of precise molecular functions in dynamic cellular processes.

Perturbations of the central spindle by depletion of a microtubule nucleation regulator, augmin, revealed its unexpected contributions to the control of cleavage furrow ingression, as well as to cytokinesis completion. These are achieved through nonredundant targeting mechanisms of cytokinesis regulators.

The molecular mechanism that governs cytoskeleton-membrane interaction during animal cytokinesis remains elusive. Here, we investigated the dynamics and functions of ERM (Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin) proteins during cytokinesis in human cultured cells. We found that ezrin is recruited to the cleavage furrow through its membrane-associated domain in a cholesterol-dependent but largely Rho-independent manner. While ERMs are dispensable for furrow ingression, they play a pivotal role in contractile activity of the polar cortex. Notably, when anillin and supervillin are codepleted, ERMs increasingly accumulate at the cleavage furrow and substantially contribute to the furrow ingression. These results reveal a supportive role of ERMs in cortical activities during cytokinesis, and also provide insight into the selective mechanism that preferentially associates cytokinesis-relevant proteins with the division site.

Non-linear microscopy, such as multi-photon excitation microscopy, offers spatial localities of excitations, thereby achieving 3D cross-sectional imaging with low phototoxicity even in thick biological specimens. We had developed a multi-point scanning two-photon excitation microscopy system using a spinning-disk confocal scanning unit. However, its severe color cross-talk has precluded multi-color simultaneous imaging. Therefore, in this study, we introduced a mechanical switching system to select either of two NIR laser light pulses and an image-splitting detection system for 3- or 4-color imaging. As a proof of concept, we performed multi-color fluorescent imaging of actively dividing human HeLa cells and tobacco BY-2 cells. We found that the proposed microscopy system enabled time-lapse multi-color 3D imaging of cell divisions while avoiding photodamage. Moreover, the application of a linear unmixing method to the 5D dataset enabled the precise separation of individual intracellular components in multi-color images. We thus demonstrated the versatility of our new microscopy system in capturing the dynamic processes of cellular components that could have multitudes of application.

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