NSF Young Investigator

这是国家科学基金会青年研究人员奖。获奖者使用遗传学、生化和细胞生物学相结合的方法，以酿酒酵母为模型细胞，了解中心体(纺锤体)是如何在细胞中复制的。中心体是由一组高度组织化的微管组成的亚细胞器。它是细胞的微管组织中心，在有丝分裂过程中起着关键作用。在细胞分裂期间，包含在染色体中的细胞的遗传信息通过排列在称为有丝分裂纺锤体的结构中的微管在两个子细胞之间平均分配。在有丝分裂过程中，染色体从纺锤体的中心拖到纺锤体相反两端的两极之一，这样在分裂过程结束时，每一极都包含了每个子细胞的适当染色体，分离完成。这一过程由中心体控制，其中一个中心体位于纺锤体的两极。在细胞分裂结束时，每个子细胞从一个纺锤体极接收染色体和中心体。因此，中心体必须复制，才能完成另一轮细胞分裂。该项目将使用现代分子和细胞生物学方法，包括使用在中心体复制中存在缺陷的酵母突变体，以了解中心体如何复制和发挥功能。

This is a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award. The awardee is using a combined genetic, biochemical, and cell biological approach to understand how centrosomes (spindle pole bodies) replicate in cells, using as a model cell the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. %%% The centrosome is a subcellular organelle made up of a highly organized set of microtubules. It serves as a microtubule organizing center for the cell, and is critical to the process of mitosis. During cell division, the genetic information of the cell, contained in the chromosomes, is apportioned equally between the two daughter cells by means of microtubules arrayed in a structure called the mitotic spindle. During the mitotic process, chromosomes are dragged from the center of the spindle to either of the two poles at opposite ends of the spindle, such that by the end of the process each pole contains the appropriate chromosomes for each daughter cell and the separation is complete. This process is controlled by the centrosomes, one of which sits at each pole of the spindle. At the end of cell division, each daughter cell receives the chromosomes and centrosome from one of the spindle poles. Thus, the centrosome must replicate before another round of cell division can be completed. This project will use modern molecular and cellular biology approaches, including the use of yeast mutants defective in centrosome replication, to understand how centrosomes replicate and function.