Invited by the Pintard, Arnaud Echard (Institut Pasteur) will present an IJM seminar on the theme:
Cell division: the final cut
Abstract:
We are interested in one of the most fundamental questions in biology: How a cell divides into two daughter cells. We particularly focus on cytokinesis, the last step of cell division leading to the physical separation of a mother cell into two independent daughter cells. Cytokinesis failure causes microcephaly and can favor tumor development, likely being responsible for 40 to 60% of human carcinomas.
Our lab addresses three main questions:
- How are the different components of the cytoskeleton dynamically remodeled during the late steps of cytokinesis?
- What are the molecular mechanisms and pathways that drive abscission?
- Can we discover new mechanisms involved in viral budding inspired by our findings in cytokinetic abscission?
In this seminar, I will present how our proteomic analysis of midbodies —the central part of the bridges connecting dividing cells— led us to propose that branched F-actin unexpectedly controls the timely and local disassembly of microtubules required for cytokinetic abscission.
The seminar will take place on Friday, February 9th at 11.45 am in room François Jacob.