The Potential Roles of DNA-Repair Proteins in Centrosome Maintenance

The centrosome, an organelle that regulates microtubules, is necessary for proper cell division in mammalian cells (Doxsey, 2001; Nigg, 2002, 2007). The existence of centrosomes was first reported 100 years ago by Theodor Boveri (Boveri, 2008). A centrosome is composed of two centrioles and is surrounded by pericentriolar material (PCM), which provides a binding site for the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC). The γTuRC acts as a microtubule nucleation template, and it attaches to the PCM to form microtubules (Fig. 1). The number of centrosomes is precisely regulated, and the duplication cycle is synchronized to the cell cycle. Centrosomes duplicate once in the S phase and mature in the G2 phase, and in the M phase, centrosomes are divided into daughter cells (Fig. 2). The number of centrosomes and their functions are regulated by many proteins including centrosome proteins, cell-cycle proteins, and DNA-repair proteins, and recently, the role of DNA-repair proteins in centrosome maintenance has been clarified. In this chapter, we introduce recent findings about the roles of DNA-repair proteins in centrosome maintenance.