Comparative analysis of Synthetic Physical Interactions with the yeast centrosome

1 The yeast centrosome or Spindle Pole Body (SPB) is situated in the nuclear membrane, where it nucleates spindle microtubules and acts as a signalling hub. Previously, we used Synthetic Physical Interactions to map the regions of the cell that are sensitive to forced relocalization of proteins across the proteome [Berry et al., 2016]. Here, we expand on this work to show that the SPB, in particular, is sensitive to the relocalization of many proteins. This work inspired a new data analysis approach that indicates that relocalization screens may produce more growth defects than previously reported. A set of associations with the SPB result in elevated SPB number and since hyper-proliferation of centrosomes is a hallmark of cancer cells, these associations point the way for the use of yeast models in the study of spindle formation and chromosome segregation in cancer.