How cells turn off the chromosome division safety checkpoint
Spindle Assembly Checkpoint Silencing
Researchers are learning how cells switch off a safety checkpoint during division to help improve cancer treatments.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11139568 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This team is focused on the cell’s spindle assembly checkpoint, a safety system that ensures chromosomes are divided correctly during cell division. In the lab they rebuild the molecular machine that controls this checkpoint using purified proteins to watch how an important complex called APC/C is released from its inhibitor. By mapping the interactions and changes that let the checkpoint turn off, they aim to find points cancer cells misuse. The findings could point to future drug targets that restore control of cell division in tumors.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Patients with cancers characterized by chromosome instability or tumors known to have cell-cycle defects would be most relevant for future applications of this research.
Not a fit: People without cancer or whose tumors are driven by unrelated mechanisms may not directly benefit from these findings in the near term.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal new targets for cancer drugs that prevent chromosome missegregation and slow tumor growth.
How similar studies have performed: Lab-based reconstitution of APC/C and checkpoint proteins has successfully advanced basic understanding, but turning those discoveries into cancer treatments remains largely unproven.
Where this research is happening
Chapel Hill, United States
- Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill — Chapel Hill, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Brown, Nicholas Gene — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Brown, Nicholas Gene
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.