The principal objective of our project group is to reveal new mechanisms that govern the dynamic and complex processes that are important to maintain a non-faulty inheritance of the genome through cell division. Our main focus is to explore how the dynamics of membrane-associated events can control and mediate mitosis and cytokinesis and to explore how such mechanisms relate to cancer.
All cancers develop due to defects in the processes that govern controlled proliferation and cell homeostasis. The cell cycle controlling a non-faulty cellular division is made up by multiple processes dedicated to controlled cell growth‚ correct genome duplication‚ chromosome separation (mitosis) and the division of one cell into two identical daughter cells (cytokinesis and abscission). Each step is under tight regulation and there are multiple checkpoints that will prevent a faulty process to go to completion. To understand cancer, we need to understand the details about how each step is controlled and executed.

Our specific interest evolves around kinases that phosphorylate phosphatidylinositol. Such kinases have been shown to control crucial cell cycle events and are found mutated or lost in cancer cells. Phosphoinositides are found in various cellular membranes where they serve to recruit effector proteins for compartmentalized functions. We seek to characterize novel roles for phosphoinositide-binding proteins in cell division.

Our research is supported by   

Coworkers:

Coen Campsteijn

Eva Wenzel

Ane Hoel Høiseth

Marte Petersen-Øverleir