Role of the FAM29A in mitotic spindle assembly.

细胞需要在所有生物体中生长和分裂。在分裂之前，细胞必须复制每一条染色体一次，而且只能复制一次。在细胞分裂过程中，一个细胞变成两个细胞，每个染色体的拷贝必须传递到每个子细胞。 染色体向后代准确传递的缺陷是癌症和其他染色体相关疾病如唐氏综合征的发展和进展的原因。Pelletier博士的实验室使用显微镜来识别和研究中心体，中心体是细胞机器的重要组成部分，在细胞分裂期间介导染色体向后代的准确传递。虽然许多新的和令人兴奋的基因参与的中心体功能的调控已被确定，他们的生物学仍然不完全了解。Pelletier博士最近发现了一种中心体功能所需的额外蛋白质，称为FAM29A，它在调节中心体生物学方面起着重要作用。 为了研究这种令人兴奋的新蛋白质，Pelletier博士的团队将使用最先进的显微镜，使他们能够在活细胞中跟踪中心体的生物学，FAM29A的行为以及中心体缺陷对染色体精确分离的影响。 他们的研究将有助于更好地了解中心体缺陷如何与癌症进展，发育障碍和其他疾病联系在一起。除了由于更好地理解哺乳动物细胞中的中心体功能而带来的健康益处外，Pelletier博士的开创性工作还将对加拿大的健康产生间接影响，使加拿大的其他研究人员能够将他的实验室开发的技术应用于他们自己的生物相关系统。

Cells need to grow and divide in all living organisms. Prior to division, cells must duplicate every single chromosomes once and only once. During cell division, the process in which one cell becomes two cells, a copy of each chromosome must be transmitted to each daughter cell. Defects in the accurate transmission of chromosomes to progeny is responsible for the development and progression of cancer and other chromosome related diseases such as Down's syndrome. Dr. Pelletier's laboratory uses microscopes to identify and study centrosomes, an important part of the cellular machine that mediate the accurate transmission of chromosome to progeny during cell division. Although many novel and exciting genes implicated in the regulation of centrosome function have been identified, their bilogy remain incompletely understood. Dr. Pelletier has recently identified an additional protein required for centrosome funtion, called FAM29A, that plays a major role in regulating centrosome biology. To study this exciting new protein, Dr. Pelletier's group will use state-of-the art microscopes that will enable them to follow, in living cells, the biology of centrosomes, the behavior of FAM29A as well as the impact of centrosome defects on the accurate segregation of chromosomes. Their study will lead to a better understanding of how centrosome defects are linked to cancer progression, developmental disorders and other diseases. In addition to the health benefits due to a better comprehension of centrosome function in mammalian cells, Dr. Pelletier's pioneering work will have indirect effects on Canadian health by enabling other researchers in Canada to apply the technologies developed in his laboratory to their own biologically relevant systems.