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Chromosome regulation mystery over

Nature publishes IISER research paper on key component - EB1

Thiruvananthapuram: When a human cell with 23 pairs of chromosomes divides, the two new cells will have 23 pairs each. Ever wondered how nature manages to ensure this every time? A team at IISER-Thiruvananthapuram, led by Dr Tapas Manna, head of the School of Biology, has identified a component which is playing a crucial role in chromosome regulation. Their research paper on the component, EB1, has been published in the international science journal, ‘Nature Communications.’

Since errors in chromosome segregation lead to genetic disorders like Down Syndrome and cancers, the study will find use in pharmacology in the future.
Much of the research till now focussed on the interaction of components in chromosomes with spindle apparatuses formed during cell division. (Spindles are formed to separate two sister chromatids, the identical chromosomes formed as a cell splits into two.)

“In our paper, we have shown that EB1 is an essential connector, linking chromosome to spindles. We are the first to identify that it has a crucial role to play in chromosome regulation during cell division,” he says.

For some years now, scientists have been curious about EB1, a kind of protein inside cells that behaves like Mary’s little lamb. It is ‘End Binding’ as it attaches to the end, and only the end, of spindles. How it manages to track the tip of a spindle still remains a mystery, and that’s another research altogether.

To understand the structure, Dr Manna sought the help of Joy Mitra of School of Physics, IISER-TVM, electron microscopist Manidipa Banerjee of IIT-Delhi and computational biologist Raja Paul of Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata.

Dr Manna says that there have been studies revealing how EB1 promotes tumour growth. Now, with their current paper, they are able to explain how. “If EB1 is high, chromosome attachment will take place at a faster rate, like how it happens in a cancer cell. So inhibiting EB1 could work as a cancer cure. There is a long way to go. But we can hope,” he says.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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