Genome-wide S2 cell screen looking at centrosome-independent mitotic spindle assembly

Moutinho-Pereira S, Stuurman N, Afonso O, Hornsveld M, Aguiar P, Goshima G, Vale RD, Maiato H. Genes involved in centrosome-independent mitotic spindle assembly in Drosophila S2 cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Nov 19. PMID: 24255106.

From the abstract: "Animal mitotic spindle assembly relies on centrosome-dependent and centrosome-independent mechanisms, but their relative contributions remain unknown. Here, we investigated the molecular basis of the centrosome-independent spindle assembly pathway by performing a whole-genome RNAi screen in Drosophila S2 cells lacking functional centrosomes. This screen identified 197 genes involved in acentrosomal spindle assembly, eight of which had no previously described mitotic phenotypes and produced defective and/or short spindles. ... Overall, these findings establish the constitutive nature of a centrosome-independent spindle assembly program and how this program is adapted to the presence/absence of centrosomes in animal somatic cells."