N for nucleus in neurofibromin: new role for an old tumor suppressor?

This Editorial highlights a study by Koliou X et al. in the current issue of Journal of Neurochemistry, in which the authors demonstrate that neurofibromin is transported to the nucleus in a cell cycle-dependent manner in astrocytic cells. During mitosis in their model, neurofibromin localizes in particular to the mitotic spindle where it binds to tubulin through a C-terminal domain phosphorylated at Ser 2808 (left). Depletion of neurofibromin leads to non-aligned chromosomes during metaphase, or abnormal congression (right), a process that may affect tumorigenesis in neoplasms with neurofibromin loss through chromosome instability and aneuploidy. Read the full article 'Nuclear import mechanism of neurofibromin for localization on the spindle and function in chromosome congression' on page 78.