Cytoplasmic flow is a cell size sensor that scales anaphase

Abstract

During early embryogenesis, fast mitotic cycles without interphase lead to a decrease in cell size, while scaling mechanisms must keep cellular structures proportional to cell size. For instance, as cells become smaller, if the position of nuclear envelope reformation (NER) did not adapt, NER would have to occur beyond the cell boundary. Here we found that NER position in anaphase scales with cell size via changes in chromosome motility, mediated by cytoplasmic flows that themselves scale with cell size. Flows are a consequence of friction between viscous cytoplasm and bulky cargo transported by dynein on astral microtubules. As an emerging property, confinement in cells of different sizes yields scaling of cytoplasmic flows. Thus, flows behave like a cell geometry sensor: astral microtubules approach the boundary causing flow velocity changes, which then affect the velocity of chromosome separation, thus scaling NER. Afonso et al. show that, during anaphase, chromosome movement can be driven by large cytoplasmic flows. These dynein-dependent cytoplasmic flows scale with cell size, slowing in smaller cells, thereby scaling anaphase.