"Chromosome segregation" refers to the process by which chromosomes, which contain our genetic material, are divided and distributed equally during cell division. This ensures that each new cell receives the correct number and types of chromosomes.
Full definition
Cheeseman and his laboratory have focused on three key groups or complexes of proteins that play essential roles
in chromosome segregation in human cells.
Zelazowski MJ, Sandoval M, Paniker L, Hamilton HM, Han J, Gribbell MA, Kang R, Cole F. (2017) Age - Dependent Alterations in Meiotic Recombination Cause
Chromosome Segregation Errors in Spermatocytes.
On the left is a model of the complete machine (the kinetochore) attached to the microtubule that provides the power
for chromosome segregation.
The Constitutive Centromere - Associated Network (CCAN) plays a foundational role in the machine that
directs chromosome segregation during cell division.
Yamashita's next steps are to explore whether the
nonrandom chromosome segregation seen in Drosophila is a widespread phenomenon that is shared by mammals, including humans.
Partly based on his MIT Ph.D. thesis research performed in yeast, Sheltzer suspects aneuploidy causes errors in DNA replication, as well as problems
with chromosome segregation during cell division.
According to our current understanding, cohesin is already loaded onto DNA (along the entire length of the decondensed one - chromatid chromosome) in telophase, i.e. only minutes
after chromosome segregation, by opening / closing its Smc1 - Smc3 interaction site (or «entry gate»).
To address key questions of meiotic ploidy reduction, we screen for and characterise novel meiotic proteins, focusing on proteins that are specifically involved in
meiotic chromosome segregation and chromosome dynamics in mice.
This complex biological machine gathers the chromosomes together and sorts them at the time of cell division, then sends them to the opposite poles of the daughter cells in a process
called chromosome segregation.
In this study, the last three amino acids of the Pten protein, which are often missing in human cancers, were found to be critical for forming an intact mitotic spindle, a structure required for
accurate chromosome segregation.
The Kops group studies the signaling networks that
regulate chromosome segregation, the evolution of cell division processes and the role of chromosomal instability in cancer.
The cell is not allowed to proceed with
chromosome segregation if even a single kinetochore is not properly attached to the spindle (and thus the chromosome pair not properly bioriented).
We further aim to understand origins and causes for evolutionary diversity in
chromosome segregation protein networks, using various model organisms including Tetrahymena thermophila and Toxoplasma gondii.
Combining this with various cancer models will reveal when and where certain levels of
chromosome segregation errors impact organismal health and tumor development.
«Our work doesn't contradict that idea, but shows the existence of another problem: defects in the microtubules, which cause defective spindles and in doing so seem to contribute to a specific type
of chromosome segregation error» asserted Professor FitzHarris.
Scientists in the lab of Life Sciences Institute researcher Yukiko Yamashita explained how stem cells can distinguish between two identical copies of chromosomes and distribute them to the daughter cells in a process called
nonrandom chromosome segregation.
After chromosome segregation, the cell creates a cleavage site in between the two segregating genomes, resulting in the generation of two distinct but genetically identical daughter cells.
Besides ensuring
correct chromosome segregation during the first meiotic division, crossovers create new allele combinations in gametes, thereby increasing genomic diversity, increasing the chance of creating offsprings with better phenotypic fitness, and providing the basis for faster evolution.
His research interests are the mechanisms and regulation of
chromosome segregation during mitotic cell division, and the development of software tools for accessing, processing, sharing, and publishing large scientific image datasets.
The resulting data suggests that PP2ACdc55 plays a pivotal role
in chromosome segregation, although we are still a way from knowing how the processes go wrong.
The altered movement of the microtubules apparently contributes to errors in
chromosome segregation, and so represents a new explanation for age - related infertility,» stated CRCHUM researcher and Université de Montréal professor Greg FitzHarris.
From graduate school and two postdocs to my first nontenure - track faculty position, I haven't lost my desire to push forward, bit by bit, the frontiers of my field — to watch with increasing precision the dance of proteins, DNA replication and repair, and
chromosome segregation.
Members of the kinesin superfamily of motor proteins are essential for mitotic and meiotic spindle organization,
chromosome segregation, organelle and vesicle transport, and many other processes that require microtubule - based transport.
«If centrioles aren't there to aid proper
chromosome segregation, p53 acts as backup to prevent making abnormal cells.
Kim, Jung - Sik, et al. «Intact cohesion, anaphase, and
chromosome segregation in human cells harboring tumor - derived mutations in STAG2.»
Cohesin and cohesin - associated factors and their contribution to genome integrity,
chromosome segregation and cell survival
We wish to understand which mutations underlie this disease and how these mutations cause errors in
chromosome segregation.
The Kops group studies the processes involved in
chromosome segregation during cell division, with a focus on molecular mechanisms, evolution and chromosomal instability.
Finally, as we and others have shown, errors in
chromosome segregation during mitosis have dramatic secondary consequences on genome integrity, including translocations, deletions and chromosome shattering (chromothripsis).