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More about
Dr. Dresser:
Dr. Dresser's CV in brief
Publications
Cell Cycle and Cancer Biology Research
Program
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Michael E. Dresser, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Member, Cell Cycle and Cancer Biology Research Program
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma
Health Sciences Center
Director, OMRF Core Facility for Imaging
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Research Interests
Chromosome abnormalities that arise during the development of sperm and
eggs can cause infertility, birth defects and increased predisposition
to cancer. To prevent these abnormalities, chromosomes of each pair must
recognize one another, move together, align closely, exchange parts and
then segregate away from one another during meiosis to form the reduced
genome of sperm and eggs, thus preparing the genome for the next
generation. My laboratory uses the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to
identify the molecular mechanisms that carry out these activities.
Our major focus at present is to understand the contribution of
telomeres to these processes. Telomeres are structures that stabilize
the ends of chromosomes and play roles in aging and prevention of
cancer. During meiosis, telomeres draw all chromosomes into a single
cluster that persists for a short time, just when chromosome pairs are
becoming closely aligned. This event occurs in humans, plants,
amphibians, yeast and other organisms, but its purpose remains
unexplained. We believe that by understanding this clustering, we will
gain insights into currently unknown, fundamental cellular mechanisms
that preserve the genome.
We first discovered that Ndj1p is a telomere protein which appears only
in meiosis. When Ndj1p is defective, telomeres fail to form the cluster,
chromosomes are slow to align and chromosomes missegregate, leading to
aneuploidy of the sort that causes infertility and birth defects. Using
an approach that combines genetics, molecular genetics and
high-resolution fluorescence and electron microscopy, we have identified
new proteins required to make the cluster, including Mps3p which also
localizes to telomeres in meiosis (see figure). Mps3p is a member of a
family of proteins implicated in chromosome and nucleus positioning in
various organisms, supporting the idea that the molecular mechanisms we
are uncovering are fundamental and widespread.
We are finding that the relationship
between telomere-promoted clustering and proper chromosome pairing and
segregation is not as simple as thought for more than 60 years, leading
us to a new understanding of the roles of telomeres and chromosome
clustering. These results are advancing our knowledge of how the genome
is preserved for delivery across generations.
Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 1989.
Mailing Address
Cell Cycle and Cancer Biology Research Program, MS 48
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 N.E. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104
Contact Information
Phone: (405) 271-7682
Fax: (405) 271-7312
E-mail:
Michael-Dresser@omrf.org
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