Kinesin-7 CENP-E motor protein is essential for chromosome alignment and kinetochore-microtubule attachment in cell division. Human CENP-E has recently identified to be linked with the microcephalic primordial dwarfism syndromes associated with a smaller head, brain malformations and a prominent nose. However, the roles of CENP-E in embryonic development remain largely unknown. In this study, we find that zebrafish CENP-E inhibition results in defects in early zygote cleavage, including asymmetric cell division, cell cycle arrest and the developmental abnormalities. We also demonstrate that CENP-E ablation in cultured cells leads to chromosome misalignment, spindle abnormalities and interruptions of the cell cycle. These observations suggest that CENP-E plays a key role in early cell division and cell cycle progression. Furthermore, we also find that CENP-E inhibition results in the defects in the epiboly, the developmental arrest, the smaller head and the abnormal embryo during zebrafish embryogenesis. Our data demonstrate new functions of CENP-E in development and provide insights into its essential roles in organogenesis.

Kinesin-7 CENP-E运动蛋白对于细胞分裂中的染色体比对和动粒微管附着至关重要。人类CENP-E最近被确定与小头，脑畸形和突出的鼻子有关的小头原始侏儒症综合征有关。但是，CENP-E在胚胎发育中的作用仍然未知。在这项研究中，我们发现斑马鱼CENP-E抑制导致早期合子卵裂的缺陷，包括不对称细胞分裂，细胞周期停滞和发育异常。我们还证明，CENP-E消融在培养细胞中会导致染色体错位，纺锤体异常和细胞周期中断。这些观察结果表明CENP-E在早期细胞分裂和细胞周期进程中起关键作用。此外，我们还发现，CENP-E抑制导致斑马鱼胚胎发生过程中的外表缺陷，发育停滞，较小的头部和异常的胚胎。我们的数据证明了CENP-E在发育中的新功能，并提供了其在器官发生中必不可少的作用的见解。