Centrosomes and cancer

The centrosome functions as the major microtubule organizing center (MTOC) of the cell and as such it determines the number, polarity, and organizatio n of interphase and mitotic microtubules. Cytoplasmic organization, cell po larity and the equal partition of chromosomes into daughter cells at the ti me of cell division are all dependent on the normal function of the centros ome and on its orderly duplication, once and only once, in each cell cycle. Malignant tumor cells show characteristic defects in cell and tissue archi tecture and in chromosome number that can be attributed to inappropriate ce ntrosome behavior during tumor progression. in this review, we will summari ze recent observations linking centrosome defects to disruption of normal c ell and tissue organization and to chromosomal instability found in maligna nt tumors. (C) 1999 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.