DSas-6 and Ana2 coassemble into tubules to promote centriole duplication and engagement.
Stevens NR., Roque H., Raff JW.
Centrioles form cilia and centrosomes, organelles whose dysfunction is increasingly linked to human disease. Centriole duplication relies on a few conserved proteins (ZYG-1/Sak/Plk4, SAS-6, SAS-5/Ana2, and SAS-4), and is often initiated by the formation of an inner "cartwheel" structure. Here, we show that overexpressed Drosophila Sas-6 and Ana2 coassemble into extended tubules (SAStubules) that bear a striking structural resemblance to the inner cartwheel of the centriole. SAStubules specifically interact with centriole proximal ends, but extra DSas-6/Ana2 is only recruited onto centrioles when Sak/Plk4 kinase is also overexpressed. This extra centriolar DSas-6/Ana2 induces centriole overduplication and, surprisingly, increased centriole cohesion. Intriguingly, we observe tubules that are structurally similar to SAStubules linking the engaged centrioles in normal wild-type cells. We conclude that DSas-6 and Ana2 normally cooperate to drive the formation of the centriole inner cartwheel and that they promote both centriole duplication and centriole cohesion in a Sak/Plk4-dependent manner.