CDB Seminar - Prof Andrew McAinsh, Warwick University 'Life histories of chromosomes'

Andrew McAinsh

Professor at Warwick University, Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology

Our lab works to understand how human cells, eggs and embryos ensure accurate chromosome segregation. This is important becuase errors can lead to aneuploidy (having the wrong number of chromosomes) which is implicated in cancer development, developmental syndromes (i.e. Downs) and recurrent pregnancy loss.    A key focus for us is the kinetochore, one of the most complicated pieces of machinery in the eukaryotic cell. Formed from >100 protein components which self-assemble into a multi-megadalton-sized attachment site for the tips of 20 dynamic microtubules. Kinetochores must capture microtubules, support and monitor proper attachment and, ultimately, generate the forces nessessary for chromosome segregation.    Approaches in the McAinsh lab include live-cell microscopy, computational image analysis, mathematical modelling and in vitro reconstitution.