Guest lecture, Friday, March 10th Prof. Stephen Doxsey, Univ. of Massachusetts
We have the pleasure to welcome Prof. Stephen Doxsey from the University of Massachusetts, Medical School.
Title of the lecture: Emerging roles of centrosomes in cell cycle control, cytokinesis and membrane trafficking
Stephen Doxseys laboratory studies the composition, structure and function of the centrosome in various cell cycle stages as well as the role of centrosome aberrations seen in human tumours.
Time and place. Friday, March 10th, 13:30, Seminar room F4
More than a century past their discovery, centrosomes regained the interest of cell biologists. Centrosomes are the major microtubule organizing structures in vertebrate cells. They nucleate and organize microtubules for numerous cellular functions and act as centres for integrating regulatory activities including cell cycle progression, checkpoint control, and stress responses. In dividing vertebrate cells, centrosomes form the poles of mitotic spindles where they direct segregation of chromosomes and play an important role in the final stages of cell division or cytokinesis. Many human tumours show centrosome aberrations influencing both tissue architecture and accuracy of chromosome segregation. Thus the questions whether centrosome aberrations do have a causative role in tumour progression and how centrosome aberrations occur are a current focus in cancer research.
Stephen Doxsey's lab-page: http://www.umassmed.edu/celldynamics/faculty/doxsey.cfm
Selected recent original publications:
Rosa J, Canovas P, Islam A, Altieri DC, Doxsey SJ. Survivin Modulates Microtubule Dynamics and Nucleation throughout the Cell Cycle. Mol Biol Cell. 2006 Jan 11; [Epub ahead of print]
Gromley A, Yeaman C, Rosa J, Redick S, Chen CT, Mirabelle S, Guha M, Sillibourne J, Doxsey SJ. Centriolin anchoring of exocyst and SNARE complexes at the midbody is required for secretory-vesicle-mediated abscission. Cell. 2005 Oct 7;123(1):75-87.
Zimmerman WC, Sillibourne J, Rosa J, Doxsey SJ. Mitosis-specific anchoring of gamma tubulin complexes by pericentrin controls spindle organization and mitotic entry. Mol Biol Cell. 2004 Aug;15(8):3642-57
Gromley A, Jurczyk A, Sillibourne J, Halilovic E, Mogensen M, Groisman I, Blomberg M, Doxsey S. A novel human protein of the maternal centriole is required for the final stages of cytokinesis and entry into S phase. J Cell Biol. 2003 May 12;161(3):535-45.
Pihan GA, Purohit A, Wallace J, Malhotra R, Liotta L, Doxsey SJ. Centrosome defects can account for cellular and genetic changes that characterize prostate cancer progression. Cancer Res. 2001 Mar 1;61(5):2212-9.
Recent review articles:
Doxsey S, McCollum D, Theurkauf W. Centrosomes in Cellular Regulation. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2005;21:411-34.
Doxsey S, Zimmerman W, Mikule K. Centrosome control of the cell cycle. Trends Cell Biol. 2005 Jun;15(6):303-11.
Pihan G, Doxsey SJ. Mutations and aneuploidy: co-conspirators in cancer? Cancer Cell. 2003 Aug;4(2):89-94.
Doxsey S. Re-evaluating centrosome function. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2001 Sep;2(9):688-98.