Virtual participation: Zoom details available here
Speaker: Professor Noel Lowndes, University of Galway
Title: "Novel roles for kinases and kinesins in maintenance of genome stability"
Abstract: There are just 20,000 annotated protein coding genes but alternative splicing ensures a massively diverse proteome. Additionally, complexity is achieved by the re-use of many pf the annotated proteins for non-canonical, so-called “moonlighting” roles. We are interested in defining such roles for the maintenance of genome stability. In this seminar I will outline “moonlighting” roles for ATR and KIF18B. ATR, a protein kinase, is the central regulator of the cellular responses to DNA replication stress. We have recently defined a new role for ATR in the final act of the cell cycle, cytokinetic abscission. KIF18B, a microtubule-dependent motor, is required for mitosis. We have also defined a new role for KIF18B throughout interphase as a regulator of DNA repair. I will review our published work on these two proteins, present unpublished data and outline our focus for future studies
Biography: Noel Lowndes, Chair, Biochemistry & Director, Centre for Chromosome Biology, University of Galway. Professor Lowndes graduated with a degree in Genetics from Trinity College Dublin in 1983. His post-graduate studies were completed at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow and Columbia University, New York. He was awarded a PhD in Molecular Pathology by the University of Glasgow in 1987 for his work on the transcriptional regulation of the c-Ha-ras proto-oncogene. His post-doctoral work on the regulation of cell cycle regulated gene transcription was conducted in Lee Johnston's laboratory at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in London. In 1993 Professor Lowndes established his own laboratory at the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Clare Hall laboratories, a leading centre of excellence in the fields of DNA repair and cell cycle research. In 2001, Professor Lowndes returned to Ireland to take up the Chair of Biochemistry at Galway, where he has been instrumental in developing its research capacity. In particular, he is the founding director of the Centre for Chromosome Biology (http://www.chromosome.ie/), a well-funded and focussed centre of excellence. Within the CCB, Professor Lowndes’ laboratory focuses on the biochemical, cell biological and genetic analyses of genome stability. In recognition of his research achievements, Professor Lowndes was elected to the membership of the European Molecular Biology Organisation in 2003 and to the membership of the Royal Irish Academy in 2017.