Nuclear pores protect genome integrity by assembling a premitotic and Mad1-dependent anaphase inhibitor.

The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) delays anaphase until all chromosomes are bioriented on the mitotic spindle. Under current models, unattached kinetochores transduce the SAC by catalyzing the intramitotic production of a diffusible inhibitor of APC/C(Cdc20) (the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome and its coactivator Cdc20, a large ubiquitin ligase). Here we show that nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) in interphase cells also function as scaffolds for anaphase-inhibitory signaling.

p31(comet) acts to ensure timely spindle checkpoint silencing subsequent to kinetochore attachment.

The spindle assembly checkpoint links the onset of anaphase to completion of chromosome-microtubule attachment and is mediated by the binding of Mad and Bub proteins to kinetochores of unattached or maloriented chromosomes. Mad2 and BubR1 traffic between kinetochores and the cytosol, thereby transmitting a "wait anaphase" signal to the anaphase-promoting complex. It is generally assumed that this signal dissipates automatically upon kinetochore-microtubule binding, but it has been shown that under conditions of nocodazole-induced arrest p31(comet), a Mad2-binding protein, is required for mitotic progression.