Tony Hyman

Mechanisms of chromosome movement at mitosis

Previous and current research

We are generally interested in spatial control of the microtubule cytoskeleton, and how this applies to the events necessary for mitosis and cell division. In particular we are interested in problems of size and shape. What sets the length of a mitotic spindle? Why is a spindle precisely positioned in a cell? Why do two cortical domains form of a certain size? Two technical steps forward have revolutionized the study of these problems in the last ten years. One is the development of genomics techniques, including RNA interference, and BAC transgenesis. The other is the contribution of physics to understanding biology. In our lab, we combine these approaches to study the following:

• Mitotic spindle assembly and function, focusing on centrosomes.
  
• Distribution of force generating mechanisms necessary for the first asymmetric division.
• Establishment of cortical polarity.

We primarily work in C.elegans embryos, but we are also studying aspects of these problems in Human cells, using the emerging techniques of BAC transgenesis.

Future prospects and goals

To understand the basic principles governing intracellular asymmetry, using the mitotic spindle and cell polarity as model systems.

About

1988: PhD, Molecular Cell Biology, King's College, Cambridge, UK 1988-1993: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California San Francisco 1993-1997: Group leader, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany 1998-1999: Visiting Senior Scientist, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany since 1999: Director, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany since 2002: Honorary Professor, TU Dresden

Selected publications

Brangwynne, CP; Eckmann, CR; Courson, DS; Julicher F and Hyman, AA, (2009): Germline P Granules Are Liquid Droplets That Localize by Controlled Dissolution/Condensation. Science 324(5935); 1729-1732

Brouhard GJ, Stear JH, Noetzel TL, Al-Bassam J, Kinoshita K, Harrison SC, Howard J, Hyman AA (2008): XMAP215 is a processive microtubule polymerase Cell 132(1): 79-88

Poser, I; Sarov, M; Buchholz, F; Hyman, AA. (2008): BAC TransgeneOmics: a high-throughput method for exploration of protein function in mammals (vol 5, pg 409,) Nat Methods. 5(8): 748-748

 Pelletier L, O'Toole E, Schwager A, Hyman AA, Muller-Reichert T. (2006): Centriole assembly in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature. 444(7119): 619-23.

Bringmann H and Hyman AA (2005): A cytokinesis furrow is positioned by two consecutive signals. Nature 436: 731-734 

Home page