Spindle assembly factor required for normal assembly of mitotic spindles. Required for normal assembly of microtubules during apoptosis. Required for chromatin and/or kinetochore dependent microtubule nucleation. Mediates AURKA localization to spindle microtubules (PubMed:18663142, PubMed:19208764, PubMed:37728657). Activates AURKA by promoting its autophosphorylation at ‘Thr-288’ and protects this residue against dephosphorylation (PubMed:18663142, PubMed:19208764). TPX2 is inactivated upon binding to importin-alpha (PubMed:26165940). At the onset of mitosis, GOLGA2 interacts with importin-alpha, liberating TPX2 from importin-alpha, allowing TPX2 to activates AURKA kinase and stimulates local microtubule nucleation (PubMed:26165940).
