GTPase domain driven dimerization of SEPT7 is dispensable for the critical role of septins in fibroblast cytokinesis

Septin 7 (SEPT7) has been described to be essential for successful completion of cytokinesis in mouse fibroblasts, and Sept7-deficiency in fibroblasts constitutively results in multinucleated cells which stop proliferation. Using Sept7(flox/flox) fibroblasts we generated a cellular system, where the cytokinetic defects of Cre-mediated deletion of the Sept7 gene can be rescued by ectopically expressed doxycycline-inducible wild type SEPT7. Using this system, we analyzed the ability of SEPT7-mutants with alterations in their GTPase domain-dependent dimerization to prevent multinucleation and rescue proliferation. Although biochemical analysis of the mutants demonstrates differences in homo- and/or hetero-polymerization, in GTP-binding and/or GTPase activities, all analyzed mutants were able to rescue the cytokinesis phenotype of Sept7(flox/flox) fibroblasts associated with Cre-mediated deletion of endogenous Sept7. These findings indicate that the ability of septins to assemble into well-defined SEPT7-dimerization dependent native filaments is dispensable for cytokinesis in fibroblasts and opens the way to search for other mechanisms of the involvement of SEPT7 in cytokinesis.