The Centrosome and its Functions and Dysfunctions

Schatten, Heide

The effects of ionizing radiation on centrosomes have been well documented and reviewed by Saladino et al. (2012) and are only briefly addressed here. These results showed that exposure of tumor cells to ionizing radiation causes centrosome overduplication and the formation of multipolar mitotic spindles, resulting in nuclear fragmentation and subsequent cell death (Sato et al. 2000). By using a variety of cell lines derived from different types of human solid tumors, it was shown that exposure to 10 Gy γ-radiation resulted in a substantial increase in cells containing an abnormally high number of aberrant centrosomes that formed multipolar spindles, resulting in imbalanced chromosome separation followed by mitotic cell death and formation of multi- or micronucleated cells.