Cdc6 is required for meiotic spindle assembly in Xenopus oocytes

During the maturation of Xenopus oocytes, Cdc6 expression is necessary to establish replication competence to support early embryonic DNA replication. However, Cdc6 is expressed before the completion of MI at a time when its function as a replication factor is not required, suggesting additional roles for Cdc6 in meiosis. Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that Cdc6 protein was distributed around the spindle precursor at the time of germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and localized to the margin of the nascent spindle early in prometaphase. Cdc6 subsequently localized to spindle poles in late prometaphase, where it remained until metaphase arrest. Microinjection of antisense oligonucleotides specific for Cdc6 mRNA disrupted spindle assembly, resulting in defects, including delayed spindle assembly, misoriented and unattached anaphase spindles, monasters, multiple spindles, microtubule aggregates associated with condensed chromosomes, or the absence of recognizable spindle-like structures, depending on the level of residual Cdc6 expression. Furthermore, Cdc6 co-localized with gamma-tubulin in centrosomes during interphase in all somatic cells analyzed and associated with spindle poles in mitotic COS cells. Our data suggest a role for Cdc6 in spindle formation in addition to its role as a DNA replication factor.