Research:
- Errors in chromosome segregation can have devastating consequences. In mitosis, chromosomal instability is a hallmark of cancer. In meiosis, chromosome mis-segregation can result in trisomy conditions such as Down syndrome, the leading genetic cause of developmental disability.
- We are studying how the cell prevents errors in chromosome segregation, including how chromosomes properly attach to the spindle in both meiotic divisions and the monitoring of this attachment by the spindle checkpoint.
- Chromosomes attach to the meiotic spindle at the kinetochore, the protein complexes built on centromeric regions of DNA. We are interested in the proteins that regulate this connection in meiosis.
- We are studying the regulation of the proteins within the kinetochore to execute each of these steps: microtubule binding to homologous chromosomes in meiosis I and sister chromatids in meiosis II, sensing inappropriate microtubule attachment, signaling the checkpoint, and correcting the error.
We study the mechanisms of meiotic and mitotic cell cycle regulation leading up to chromosome segregation and gamete formation.
Research:
- Meiotic and Mitotic Cell Cycle Regulation
- Autophagy and Meiotic Exit
- Chromosome Segregation.
Keywords:
- Dissecting the chromosome segregation regulatory network
- Budding yeast Meiosis and Mitosis
- Mouse Oocyte Meiosis.
Subject Area:
Research Interests:
- mitotic and meiotic cell cycle regulation.
