Cytokinesis is the process by which a cell divides into two daughters. When mitosis is complete, a cleavage furrow assembles in the middle of the cell and this furrow constricts to divide the cell into two equal parts. Cytokinesis is fascinating from a basic cell biology perspective, since it requires concerted activity of the cytoskeleton and membrane systems of the cell. It is also a process that could potentially be targeted in anti-cancer therapy. We are interested in two questions: how does the cell position the cleavage furrow exactly in its middle and how does the furrow assemble? We will address these by a combination of biochemistry, microscopy and addition of drugs. We will continue our biochemical analysis of two interesting cleavage furrow proteins, anillin, which we discovered, and septins, a family of GTPase proteins that we showed could assemble into filaments. We want to know what these proteins do in the cell and how they influence each other. We will study how new membrane is targeted to the cleavage furrow using extracts from frog eggs and the role of anillin in this process. Building a furrow at the center of the cell depends on microtubules that provide the positional information. We will probe how the microtubules associated with cytokinesis are organized in the cell and what mechanisms they use to target anillin and myosin II to the center of the cell to build a furrow there.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM023928-27
Application #
6915075
Study Section
Cell Development and Function Integrated Review Group (CDF)
Program Officer
Deatherage, James F
Project Start
1977-08-01
Project End
2007-06-30
Budget Start
2005-07-01
Budget End
2006-06-30
Support Year
27
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$339,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Harvard University
Department
Anatomy/Cell Biology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
047006379
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02115
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