Integrity of the Pericentriolar Material Is Essential for Maintaining Centriole Association during M Phase

A procentriole is assembled next to the mother centriole during S phase and remains associated until M phase. After functioning as a spindle pole during mitosis, the mother centriole and procentriole are separated at the end of mitosis. A close association of the centriole pair is regarded as an intrinsic block to the centriole reduplication. Therefore, deregulation of this process may cause a problem in the centriole number control, resulting in increased genomic instability. Despite its importance for faithful centriole duplication, the mechanism of centriole separation is not fully understood yet. Here, we report that centriole pairs are prematurely separated in cells whose cell cycle is arrested at M phase by STLC. Dispersal of the pericentriolar material (PCM) was accompanied. This phenomenon was independent of the separase activity but needed the PLK1 activity. Nocodazole effectively inhibited centriole scattering in STLC-treated cells, possibly by reducing the microtubule pulling force around centrosomes. Inhibition of PLK1 also reduced the premature separation of centrioles and the PCM dispersal as well. These results revealed the importance of PCM integrity in centriole association. Therefore, we propose that PCM disassembly is one of the driving forces for centriole separation during mitotic exit.