Lab Members / Projects
Our lab utilizes biochemical, biophysical, cell biological, and computational techniques to understand the mechanisms of chromosome segregation during cell division in human cells. We are determining the mechanisms that drive chromosome movement and ensure error-free mitosis and the mechanisms that contribute to the orderly assembly of microtubules into the bipolar spindle apparatus.
Chromosomes must segregate accurately at each cell division. Chromosome mis-segregation leads to aneuploidy, a condition that is common in solid tumors. Many aneuploid tumor cells mis-segregate chromosomes at very high rates in a phenomenon called chromosomal instability. We are currently using biochemical and cell biological techniques to determine the underlying cause of chromosomal instability in human tumor cells (chromosome segregation). We plan to use this information to build models where we can directly test how chromosomal instability contributes to the tumorigenic phenotype.
We are also using biochemical techniques to determine how microtubules are organized into symmetric bipolar arrays. We have developed a cell free mitotic extract that mimics the assembly of spindle poles (microtubule asters). We have used this system to identify and characterize the proteins responsible for focusing microtubule minus ends at spindle poles, and recently applied computational techniques to this system to determine how the behavior of individual components are integrated to build a highly ordered microtubule array. We are currently applying laser trapping microscopy to obtain quantitative measurements of forces acting on microtubules in this system.
Principal Investigator |
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Duane Compton, Ph.D |
Research Group Members |
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Kristina Godek, Ph.D. |
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Bernard Orr, Ph.D. |
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Lily Kabeche |
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Marianna Kleyman |
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Chris Laucius |
