Mechanisms of cell division and cell proliferation during embryogenesis

Prof. Robert Saint

Phone (02) 61252383

e-mail: Robert.Saint@anu.edu.au

Saint Lab: A general introduction

In a developing animal, cells divide, change shape, migrate, differentiate and/or die in a highly regulated way, The aim of our research is to understand the molecular basis of these cellular behaviours. We use Drosophila melanogaster because of its power as a model system and because studies in Drosophila impact directly on our understanding of gene function and embryogenesis in all animals, including ourselves. Using elegant genetic approaches, a complete genome sequence and advanced imaging techniques, we can modify genes and examine their effect on cell behaviour, in the process discovering the function of genes and their products in vivo.

Our research interests lie in the processes of cell division and cell migration, partly because of our interest in understanding animal development at a detailed cellular, molecular and genetic level, but also because understanding these processes is certain to impact on aspects of cancer biology.  For example, failure of cell division results in tetraploid cells, which are increasingly thought to be an early intermediate in tumour formation, while metastasis of cancer cells is thought to involve an epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cell migration. Our focus is on the mechanisms that operate during normal embryogenesis, aiming to provide a basis on which abnormal disease processes can be better understood.

Project 1: Understanding the molecular basis of cell division

We are taking a number of approaches to understand how key regulatory molecules position and activate formation of the acto-myosin contractile ring.  These approaches include detailed structure function analyses of the proteins involved in RhoA small GTPase activation at the onset of cytokinesis and advanced microscopic approaches such as FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) to look for interactions between the proteins that assemble and maintain the contractile ring.  In all cases, projects are multi-disciplinary, combining genetic manipulation, molecular biology and cell biology approaches to the problems.

Project 2: Cell migration during development

We are examining several examples of cell migration during Drosophila development.  Projects in this area involve a variety of genetic screens to look for new genes required for cell migration.  We are characterizing the genes that we have discovered using molecular biology, .

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