Maintaining mitotic fidelity in complex in vivo environments

Research in the Gerhold lab investigates how mitosis is affected by the environmental, physiological and structural complexities that make up a cell’s normal environment in vivo. We focus primarily on spindle assembly and the regulation of anaphase onset by the spindle assembly checkpoint. We use a combination of in situ live-cell imaging, quantitative image analysis and genetics in the germline stem cells and embryonic blastomeres of the mighty worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Current projects center around three questions: (1) How is spindle assembly checkpoint strength affected by changes in cell size and cell fate during development? (2) How is mitotic fidelity maintained when germline stem cells divide under different physiological or environmental conditions? And (3) How is the orientation of germline stem cell mitosis regulated to maintain germline tissue organization and function?