Wu Lab

Research Description

Outstanding Questions in Cytokinesis

Our long-term goal is to reveal the molecular mechanisms of cytokinesis. Cytokinesis partitions cellular constituents into two daughter cells at the end of the cell cycle. From yeast to humans, cytokinesis requires the coordination of six key events: division-plane selection, actomyosin contractile-ring assembly, ring constriction and associated disassembly, targeted plasma-membrane deposition, extracellular matrix formation, and daughter-cell separation (Fig. 1). The molecular mechanisms of the last four events are least understood because the pathways overlap and the events are currently poorly resolved in time and space.


Fig. 1. Key events in fission yeast cytokinesis. Cytokinesis nodes and the actomyosin
contractile ring are in red, nuclei in gray, actin filaments in green, plasma membrane in
black, cell wall in light blue, primary septum in dark blue, and secondary septa in yellow.