The NIMA-family kinases Nek9, Nek6 and Nek7: regulating the centrosome cycle downstream of Plk1

Informações

Data: 01/09/2014 – 08:30:00

Fim: 01/09/2014 – 17:00:00

Onde: CNPEM – Rua Giuseppe Máximo Scolfaro, 10.000 – Campinas, SÃO PAULO 13280000 Brazil – Telefone: 19 35121267

Detalhes

Abstract: When eukaryotic cells divide, the correct segregation of the duplicated chromosomes to daughter cells depends on the organization and function of the mitotic spindle. In order to build this molecular machine the microtubule cytoskeleton is reorganized during mitosis into a bipolar array of unstable polymers connected to sister chromatids in a way that will facilitate their separation in two equal groups. In most animal cells this process is directed by the centrosomes, small non-membranous organelles that are also crucial for the establishment of cell polarity, asymmetric division and ciliogenesis. We are interested in understanding how the functions of spindle and centrosomes are controlled through protein phosphorylation. Recently we have shown that Nek9, Nek6 and Nek7, three members of the NIMA-family of protein kinases that form a signaling module activated by Plk1, are key regulators of both centrosome separation and maturation, two processes that are crucial for the formation of a normal bipolar spindle. We are studying how the Neks are more generally involved in the regulation of the centrosome cycle and the formation of the mitotic spindle through the modification of different proteins, as well as how changes in the activity levels of different Neks could result in centrosome and spindle abnormalities, chromosome missegregation and aneuploidy, some of the most prevalent aberrations found in cancer cells.

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Joan Roig – Institute for Research in Biomedicine – IRB Barcelona

1st September 2014 at 8:30am

Room 69 – LNBio
Campus – Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais – CNPEM
Rua Giuseppe M. Scolfaro, 10.000 – Guará
Telefone: (19) 3512-1010