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Organization of microtubules into ordered arrays is best understood in mitotic systems, but remains poorly characterized in postmitotic cells such as neurons. By analyzing the cycling cell microtubule cytoskeleton proteome through expression profiling and targeted RNAi screening for candidates with roles in neurons, we have identified the mitotic kinase NEK7. We show that NEK7 regulates dendrite morphogenesis in vitro and in vivo. NEK7 kinase activity is required for dendrite growth and branching, as well as spine formation and morphology. NEK7 regulates these processes in part through phosphorylation of the kinesin Eg5/KIF11, promoting its accumulation on microtubules in distal dendrites. Here, Eg5 limits retrograde microtubule polymerization, which is inhibitory to dendrite growth and branching. Eg5 exerts this effect through microtubule stabilization, independent of its motor activity. This work establishes NEK7 as a general regulator of the microtubule cytoskeleton, controlling essential processes in both mitotic cells and postmitotic neurons.

Neurons display a highly polarized microtubule network that mediates trafficking throughout the extensive cytoplasm and is crucial for neuronal differentiation and function. In newborn migrating neurons, the microtubule network is organized by the centrosome. During neuron maturation, however, the centrosome gradually loses this activity, and how microtubules are organized in more mature neurons remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that microtubule organization in post-mitotic neurons strongly depends on non-centrosomal nucleation mediated by augmin and by the nucleator γTuRC. Disruption of either complex not only reduces microtubule density but also microtubule bundling. These microtubule defects impair neurite formation, interfere with axon specification and growth, and disrupt axonal trafficking. In axons augmin does not merely mediate nucleation of microtubules but ensures their uniform plus end-out orientation. Thus, the augmin-γTuRC module, initially identified in mitotic cells, may be commonly used to generate and maintain microtubule configurations with specific polarity.

Centrioles are essential for cilia and centrosome assembly. In centriole-containing cells, centrioles always form juxtaposed to pre-existing ones, motivating a century-old debate on centriole biogenesis control. Here, we show that trans-autoactivation of Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4), the trigger of centriole biogenesis, is a critical event in the spatial control of that process. We demonstrate that centrioles promote PLK4 activation through its recruitment and local accumulation. Though centriole removal reduces the proportion of active PLK4, this is rescued by concentrating PLK4 to the peroxisome lumen. Moreover, while mild overexpression of PLK4 only triggers centriole amplification at the existing centriole, higher PLK4 levels trigger both centriolar and cytoplasmatic (de novo) biogenesis. Hence, centrioles promote their assembly locally and disfavor de novo synthesis. Similar mechanisms enforcing the local concentration and/or activity of other centriole components are likely to contribute to the spatial control of centriole biogenesis under physiological conditions., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)