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Authors & Affiliations
Ludovica Altieri, Vincenzo Costanzo, Silvia Gasparini, Pietro Cirigliano, Carlo Brighi, Cecilia Mannironi, Patrizia Lavia
Abstract
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are often associated with mutations in mitotic genes rather than in genes specifying neuronal functions. Several mitotic regulators are functionally repurposed to new roles during neurodifferentiation. CENP-F, a kinetochore- and microtubule-interacting protein with well-characterised mitotic functions, is being growingly identified for harbouring mutations in primary microcephaly and in the Strømme syndrome, an NDD classified as a ciliopathy. The mechanism through which mutant CENP-F contributes to these NDDs remains elusive.To gain insight into the implication of CENP-F in NDDs, we have optimised imaging methods and developed a comprehensive analysis of CENP-F in post-mitotic cellular systems. We first examined CENP-F during the formation of the primary cilium by optimising quantitative immunofluorescence and single-cell analysis of spinning-disk confocal images. CENP-F and some of its interacting partners were characterised in a time-course analysis of ciliogenesis in human retinal RPE-1 cells. CENP-F localises at the basal body of the cilium and is absolutely required for proper ciliogenesis. We also studied the requirement for CENP-F during neurodifferentiation by time-lapse videorecording and confocal microscopy. We have developed two AI-based algorithms to analyse high-content images of videorecorded cell cultures: that enabled us to extract information on the dynamics with which phenotypic changes occur during neurodifferentiation and identify steps that are sensitive to and/or impaired by CENP-F loss-of-function. In summary, these imaging protocols identify critical temporal windows during which the lack of CENP-F impacts neurodifferentiation and ciliogenesis, thus providing new tools to dissect roles of CENP-F in NDDs.