Cell Cycle Regulation and Chromosome Structure
under the supervision of
DAMIEN D'AMOURS, Ph.D.
- Canada Research Chair in Cell Cycle Regulation and Genomic Integrity
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
Our genome largely defines the behavior of the cells within our body. So, it is not surprising that cancer cells have learned to alter their genome as a means to promote uncontrolled and unlimited cell multiplication. Our laboratory gathers a team of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research professionals who are combining their efforts to understand the molecular mechanisms used by cancer cells to corrupt the integrity of the human genome.
Our current efforts are targeted at understanding how changes in chromatin structure are regulated by the cell cycle machinery during mitosis. We also study a human cancer-predisposition disease -the Nijmegen breakage syndrome- characterized by defects in cell cycle checkpoint regulation and genome instability. Cells from patients with this inherited disease have a very severe deficiency in the detection and repair of DNA damage, often resulting in altered chromosome structure. Understanding the molecular defects underlying this disease represent an invaluable opportunity to find key cellular players involved in cancer development. As a whole, our research program integrates fundamental aspects of cell biology such as how cell signaling by proteases and protein kinases regulates cell cycle progression and chromatin structure in dividing cells.
We address these questions using one of the very best model organism available for the analysis of eukaryotic cell cycle regulation, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We combine the use of this model organism with cutting edge technologies and experimental approaches, including proteomics (mass spectrometry, phosphorylation analyses, chromatin complex purification), cell biology (live cell microscopy, cell synchronization) and molecular genetic analyses. The use of these tools has allowed us to reveal the existence of a novel and fundamental mechanism necessary for the maintenance of chromosome integrity during cell division (see St-Pierre et al., [2009] Molecular Cell ; D'Amours et al., [2004] Cell; and our website [www.damours.iric.ca] for more details).
T + 514 343.6866
F + 514 343.6843
damien.damours@umontreal.ca |
