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 Microtubule function and cell division
Group Leader:



icrea

1989 PhD, Dpt of Biochemistry, Medical School, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
1989-1992 Postdoctoral work at the University of Cambridge and The Wellcome/CRG Institute, Cambridge, UK.
1992-1996 Postdoctoral work at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany
1996-2001 Staff Scientist at EMBL
2001-2005 Team Leader at EMBL
August 2005 Group Leader at the Centre de Regulació Genòmica, Barcelona (Spain). Research Professor, (ICREA) Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats

Summary
Research in my lab is directed at understanding the role of the microtubule network in cell organization and function. To address this question we study various microtubule-associated proteins (molecular motors and MAPs) and their regulators (kinases, phosphatases and the small GTPase Ran during M-phase). One major goal is to unravel how the self-organization of cellular components results in the morphogenesis of dynamic molecular machines. At present we are focusing on one example of self-organization: the assembly of the bipolar spindle in mitosis and meiosis.
Our favorite experimental system is the Xenopus egg extract system for studies on cell cycle progression and regulation, microtubule dynamics, spindle assembly and chromosome behaviour (Karsenti and Vernos, 2001). We combine it with the use of human tissue culture cells in which we validate some of the results obtained in egg extract.
 

The Xenopus egg extract system. Eggs laid by the female are collected and crushed by low speed centrifugation to collect a concentrated cytoplasm locked in M-phase. This cytoplasm can then be used to follow various cell cycle related events in the test tube like (1) spindle assembly in the presence of chromosomes and centrosomes, (2) spindle assembly around chromatin without kinetochores and centrosomes (3) microtubule dynamics in the absence of chromatin.


Last modification: 28/02/2006


Research Lines
Other Activities
Selected Publications

Brunet S., Zimmermann T., Reynaud E., Vernos I., E. Karsenti and R. Pepperkok..
"Detection and quantification of protein-microtubules interactions using GFP photo-conversion".
Traffic 7(9):1283-9. (2006). abstract
Vernos I..
"Only one spindle, if you please ..."
Nat Cell Biol. 8(9):901-2 (2006). abstract
Castoldi M., I.Vernos ..
"Chromokinesin Xklp1 contributes to the regulation of microtubule density and organization during spindle assembly".
Mol Biol Cell. 17:1451-1460 (2006). abstract
Brown C.L., Maier K. C., Stauber T., Ginkel L. M., Wordeman L., Vernos I. and T. A. Schroer..
"Kinesin II is a motor for late endosomes and lysosomes in vivo".
Traffic 6:1114-1124 (2005). abstract
Peset I., Seiler J., Sardon T., Bejarano LA., Rybina S. and Vernos I..
"Function and regulation of Maskin, a TACC family protein, in microtubule growth during mitosis".
J Cell Biol. 170(7):1057-1066 (2005). abstract

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Group Members


Microtubule function and cell division