My lab is interested in the cellular processes that regulate the microtubule cytoskeleton during the cell cycle, in particular how the mitotic spindle is assembled.
Microtubules are dynamic polymers that coordinate many cellular processes throughout the cell cycle.
In interphase the microtubules form an astral array centered around a single centrosome and are involved in maintaining cell shape and providing the rail road tracks along which vesicular transport occurs within the cell. In mitosis the microtubules become rearranged into a bipolar spindle which is required for the equal segregation of chromosomes and the positioning of the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis. The projects in my lab are designed to understand how spindle assembly is coordinated. These approaches include biochemical studies on in vitro spindle assembly using Xenopus laevis egg extract and in vivo studies using both tissue culture cells and Drosophila melanogastor embryos. Role of Importin-b in coupling Ran to downstream targets in microtubule assembly.