Are you wondering how cells divide?

We use quantitative live imaging to understand how

cells get the right chromosomes during cell division

and to develop therapeutic interventions for cancer

treatment.

     Dynamic microtubules and microtubule dependeint

motor proteins drive the attachment, movement and

segregation of chromosomes during mitosis. Dynamic microtubules also position the nucleus and the mitotic spindle during cell division.

     We use a number of high-resolution microscopic techniques, fluorescently tagged proteins and genome edited mammalian cells to answer the following questions:

     How do microtubules and microtubule motors use the

energy of GTP and ATP to organize cellular contents?

     How are dynamic microtubules spatially organized and

regulated within the cell and within the mitotic spindle?

     How do microtubules and motors contribute to the

accuracy of chromosome segregation and to long-term

chromosome instability in living cells?

     What therapies can we develop by exploiting our under-

standing of cell division and the cytoskeleton to treat disease.