Description:

CDB SEMINAR PRESENTATION:

"An anaphase surveillance mechanism that prevents micronuclei formation during human cell division"

Helder Maiato, Ph.D.

Coordinator, Integrative Program on Cancer, Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S) and PI, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology

Universidade do Porto, Porto, PT

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

12:00-1:00 PM

Zoom Link: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/94428525012

Meeting ID: 944 2852 5012

Password: Available upon request by contacting cdb@northwestern.edu

Call-in: +1 312 626 6799 US
             +351 308 810 988 PT

Abstract: 

Micronuclei are a hallmark of cancer and several other human disorders and have recently been implicated in chromothripsis, a series of massive genomic rearrangements that may drive tumor evolution and progression. Despite the strong implications for human health, how human cells normally prevent micronuclei formation from mitotic errors remains largely unknown. In this talk I will show that Aurora B kinase mediates a surveillance mechanism that integrates error correction during anaphase with spatial control of nuclear envelope reformation to protect against micronuclei formation during human cell division. Using high-resolution live-cell imaging of human cancer and non-cancer cells we found that anaphase lagging chromosomes are often transient and rarely form micronuclei. This strong bias against micronuclei formation relies on a midzone-based Aurora B phosphorylation gradient that assists the mechanical transduction of spindle forces at the kinetochore-microtubule interface required for anaphase error correction, while delaying nuclear envelope reformation on lagging chromosomes, independently of microtubules. Overall, our findings unveil a new layer of protection against genomic instability operating during late mitosis in human cells, awareness of which will be critical for the rational design of MN-targeting therapies.

Host: Dr. Dileep Varma, Assistant Professor
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology    

For more information please contact cdb@northwestern.edu
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