Insights on the Role of PGRMC1 in Mitotic and Meiotic Cell Division

SIMPLE SUMMARY: PGRMC1 is a multifunctional protein regulating multiple aspects of cell proliferation, including cell viability, apoptosis, entry into the cell cycle, and the subsequent progression of cell division. In this review, we highlight the emerging role of PGRMC1 during the M phase and cytokinesis, which, compared to other PGRMC1 functions, have received modest attention from the scientific community. Mechanistically, we present insights into how the association with the chromosomal passenger complex and the cytoskeleton and their participation in membrane trafficking might contribute to the control of cell division. ABSTRACT: During mitosis, chromosome missegregation and cytokinesis defects have been recognized as hallmarks of cancer cells. Cytoskeletal elements composing the spindle and the contractile ring and their associated proteins play crucial roles in the faithful progression of mitotic cell division. The hypothesis that PGRMC1, most likely as a part of a yet-to-be-defined complex, is involved in the regulation of spindle function and, more broadly, the cytoskeletal machinery driving cell division is particularly appealing. Nevertheless, more than ten years after the preliminary observation that PGRMC1 changes its localization dynamically during meiotic and mitotic cell division, this field of research has remained a niche and needs to be fully explored. To encourage research in this fascinating field, in this review, we will recap the current knowledge on PGRMC1 function during mitotic and meiotic cell division, critically highlighting the strengths and limitations of the experimental approaches used so far. We will focus on known interacting partners as well as new putative associated proteins that have recently arisen in the literature and that might support current as well as new hypotheses of a role for PGRMC1 in specific spindle subcompartments, such as the centrosome, kinetochores, and the midzone/midbody.