Cutting edge Seminar

 

Speaker: Tomoya Kitajima (RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research)

Title: Understanding and preventing age-associated chromosome segregation errors in oocytes

Date&Time: 2 September (wed)　12：00-13：00

Venue: Conference Room(1F), IMEG, Kumamoto University  On site + Zoom

※This seminar can also be attended through ZOOM. Please check the URL on “S-HIGO Cutting-Edge Seminar A, B” at Moodle.

https://md.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/course/view.php?id=136783

 

Abstract:

Egg aneuploidy is a leading cause of miscarriage and congenital disorders such as Down syndrome. It arises from chromosome segregation errors during oocyte meiosis, with incidence increasing markedly with maternal age. However, the oocyte-intrinsic features and age-associated defects that promote these errors remain incompletely understood.

Using mouse oocytes as a model, we investigate chromosome dynamics and the cellular machinery driving meiotic chromosome segregation, including the spindle and kinetochores. We have identified multiple oocyte-intrinsic factors that predispose oocytes to segregation errors, including (1) mechanisms governing spindle bipolarization and (2) regulation of kinetochore–microtubule attachments. In addition, we have found that (3) premature chromosome separation represents a major age-associated defect. In this talk, I will present our recent findings on the cell biological basis of chromosome segregation errors in oocytes and discuss emerging error-prevention strategies using synthetic tools currently under development.