We got an ERC SYNERGY grant #ERCSyG!! With @nenad_pavin @AngelikaAmon and Geert Kops. Huge thanks to our Synergy team, my lab, and ERC! Cannot wait to start this super exciting project! #EUfunded

National ERC Information Day in Zagreb! Together with other ERC panel members, we shared what happens behind closed panel doors, and with fellow ERC Synergy grantees, I talked about the full journey from the first idea to a funded grant. @ERC_Research https://t.co/ISgy7JGDmw

Reappraisal of motor protein CENPE's role in bringing chromosomes together in preparation for accurate cell division 📷 Kruno Vukušić & @Toliclab @institutrb in @NatureComms ➡️ https://t.co/pFHAz7ZrN5 with @DrJohnAnkers

Researchers in Croatia, join us tomorrow at 9:30 in Zagreb or online to explore ERC grants! I’ll be sharing my experience from both sides of the table - as an ERC panel member and a grantee (Consolidator + Synergy). Bring your questions! @ERC_Research https://t.co/ISgy7JG5wY

Researchers in Croatia: join us tomorrow at 9:30 CET to explore ERC grant opportunities! Tune in to get practical guidance, discover how to get support and hear from successful ERC grantees: https://t.co/gD9DbgjQjw

Are you a researcher based in Croatia? Interested to apply for ERC funding? Tune in on 10 December to get practical guidance, discover how to get support and hear from successful ERC grantees: https://t.co/gD9DbgjQjw

Scientists, journalists, communicators, and policymakers in one room, rethinking how we talk about basic research in Europe! With @MarcinMonko, @institutrb, @EK_Hrvatska. https://t.co/WSwE88NqY1 See you at ZG SciComm 2026!

Do people outside academia understand the potential of EU basic research? I’ll be speaking in Session 2 “Let’s Pop The Balloon” at Zagreb Science Communication Forum 2025, on stepping outside the research bubble and reaching wider publics. @institutrb @EK_Hrvatska

When our institute’s legendary PR team tells our science story 📹👩‍🔬🧬 @institutrb @KrunoVuk https://t.co/vvwo5NZeQx https://t.co/ll26PG4tU0

On my way to work - flowers for All Saints’ Day.

Congrats @KrunoVuk on this remarkable work! Thanks @ERC_Research, @hrzz_science, and @SrceHr for support!

We propose a kinetochore-centrosome feedback mechanism controlling chromosome movement: chromosomes near centrosomes rely on CENP-E because high Aurora A activity boosts Aurora B at kinetochores, restricting end-on attachments. CENP-E counteracts this by downregulating Aurora B.

Notably, the dependence of polar chromosomes on CENP-E can be bypassed by using constitutively dephosphorylated Hec1, emphasizing the role of Aurora kinase-mediated Hec1 phosphorylation in preventing congression when CENP-E is absent.

Does Aurora A at spindle poles directly promote Aurora B activity at kinetochores? Yes, our results show that acute inhibition of Aurora A reduces Aurora B activity at polar kinetochores, accompanied by a decrease in the number of polar chromosomes.

At poles that contain centrioles, high Aurora A kinase enhances Aurora B activity on kinetochores of polar chromosomes, increasing phosphorylation of microtubule-binding proteins and preventing stable microtubule attachments in the absence of CENP-E.

Centrosomes inhibit the initiation of congression in the absence of CENP-E, and depletion of centrioles allows chromosomes near acentriolar poles to initiate congression independently of CENP-E.

In our second paper, we asked why only polar chromosomes depend on CENP-E for congression. We inhibited Plk4 to generate spindles where one pole had centrioles and the other did not. Strikingly, the acentriolar pole (on the right in the movie) rarely had polar chromosomes.

And now… part two of our twin papers on how chromosomes find their place before division! Led by @KrunoVuk at @institutrb, out in @NatureComms! https://t.co/oUwguXWk5f https://t.co/bCnHSvsJmi Missed the thread on the first paper? Catch up here: https://t.co/ifnldFqiao

In sum, the first paper shows that chromosome congression is coupled to biorientation, with CENP-E linking the two. A thread on the second paper is coming soon! Congrats @KrunoVuk on this amazing work! We appreciate support from @ERC_Research, @hrzz_science, and @SrceHr.

We propose that congression operates as a negative feedback loop between the activity of Aurora kinases that oppose congression by destabilizing end-on attachments, but also activate CENP-E, which then promotes congression by opposing the activity of Aurora kinases.

In our model, stabilization of end-on attachments without CENP-E is delayed due to Aurora kinase-mediated phosphorylation of microtubule-binding proteins and expansion of the fibrous corona, which obstructs attachments. CENP-E counters this by reducing phosphorylation.