Biology

Dr. Ajit Joglekar
Cell & Developmental Biology Adjunct: Biophysics, Biomedical Engineering University of Michigan, USA

Abstract:

I will describe work from my lab that seeks to understand the biological design of two cellular systems: the kinetochore and the mitotic checkpoint. The kinetochore is a complex protein machine that moves chromosomes during cell division, while the mitotic checkpoint uses a kinetochore-based signaling mechanism to delay cell division if one or more kinetochores are not properly attached to the mitotic spindle. Both systems have been studied extensively using the reductionist approach, but this information does not fully reveal the cellular ‘logic’ that dictates specific aspects of their design. I will discuss one study in particular that explains how the mitotic checkpoint maximizes the accuracy of chromosome segregation while also minimizing unnecessary delays in cell division. I will also indicate how this work provides the foundation for our goal of building synthetic chromosome segregation machines.