Kinetochores, which attach chromosomes to the spindle apparatus during cell division, are associated with molecular machinery that recruits and regulates the function of dynein. Dynein at kinetochores moves chromosomes towards spindle poles, and is involved in the `shedding' of proteins from kinetochores and onto the microtubules to which they are attached. Previous studies have shown that NudE physically associates with dynein, but the function of NudE in cell division has been unclear. Now, Michael Goldberg and colleagues (p. 1747) establish a new role for this protein in regulating dynein function at the kinetochore. They show that NudE is essential in Drosophila, as flies expressing a null nudE allele die at the third-instar larval or pupal stage. Examination of larval cells from the mutant flies shows that many are arrested at prometaphase or metaphase because of the activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). Although the SAC is...

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