Seminar

Cell Cycle Control of Genome Integrity: Focus on Mitosis and the Centrosome Cycle

ERICH NIGG PhD

The error-free segregation of duplicated chromosomes during cell division is crucial to the development and health of all organisms. Chromosomal instability and imbalances (aneuploidy) are typical of many solid human tumors and generally correlated with increased malignancy. Chromosomal instability is likely to favor not only cancer development but also the emergence of resistance to anti-cancer therapy. Many chromosome aberrations in tumor cells are thought to result from the deregulation of mitotic progression or cytokinesis, a defective spindle assembly checkpoint and/or centrosome abnormalities. Our laboratory is interested in the control of chromosome segregation and cell division, as well as the regulation of the centrosome duplication cycle. In my talk, I will review our recent results from an ongoing spindle phosphoproteomics project and summarize our current understanding of centriole duplication. Finally, I will emphasize the relevance of centrioles (and basal bodies) for human health and disease (for recent review see Nigg and Raff; Cell, 2009).