Regis Meyer, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Member
Cell Cycle & Cancer Biology Research Program
Research
My work has focused on studying interactions between microtubules and kinetochores in meiosis. My findings have provided new insights into the ways that the conserved protein kinase Mps1, a promising target for cancer therapy, regulates the behavior of chromosomes on the meiotic spindle. In a new independent project, I’m investigating the sensitivity of aneuploid cells to their levels of Mps1 expression. In particular, I’m trying to understand the relationship between Mps1 and one of the most common features of cancer cells; aneuploidy. Aneuploidy is the result of losing or gaining chromosomes during cell division. Mps1 regulates the function of multiple proteins involved in cell division, and is critical to keep the correct number of chromosomes in each daughter cell. In most solid tumors, cells carry far more chromosomes than normal cells. An analysis of breast cancer cell lines revealed they had elevated chromosome numbers, high levels of Mps1 expression, and required high levels of Mps1 expression for their survival. I speculate that in tumor cells with many additional chromosomes, the chromosome segregation machinery, and in particular, some process controlled by Mps1, is at its limits trying to align chromosomes on the spindle before cell division. Currently, it is not known which of the targets or processes under the control of Mps1 are the ones that are especially necessary for the survival of aneuploid cells. To address this, I’m developing models using yeast cells to identify which phosphorylation targets of Mps1 are required for the survival of aneuploid cells.
Publications
Selected Publications
Meyer RE., Delaage M., Rosset R., Capri M., Aït Ahmed O. A single mutation results in diploid gamete formation and parthenogenesis in a Drosophila yemanuclein-alpha meiosis I defective mutant. BMC Genetics (2010), Nov 16;11:104, PMCID: PMC2998452
Orsi GA., Algazeery A., Meyer RE., Capri M., Sapey-Triomphe LM., Horard B., Gruffat H., Couble P., Aït Ahmed O., Loppin B. Drosophila Yemanuclein and HIRA cooperate for de novo assembly of H3.3-containing nucleosomes in the male pronucleus. PLoS Genetics (2013), Feb;9(2):e1003285, PMCID: PMC3567178
Meyer RE1., Kim S., Obeso D., Straight PD., Winey M., Dawson DS. Mps1 and Ipl1/Aurora B act sequentially to correctly orient chromosomes on the meiotic spindle of budding yeast. Science (2013), Mar 1;339(6123):1071-4, PMCID: PMC3604795
Kim S., Meyer RE., Chuong H., Dawson DS. Dual mechanisms prevent premature chromosome segregation during meiosis I. Genes Dev. 2013 Oct 1;27(19):2139-2146, PMID:24115770
Meyer RE.*, Algazeery A.*, Capri M., Brazier H., Ferry C., Aït Ahmed O. Drosophila Yemanuclein associates with the cohesin and synaptonemal complexes - * Equal contribution. J Cell Sci. 2014 Nov 1;127(21):4658-66. doi: 10.1242/jcs.152520. Epub 2014 Sep 4. PMID: 25189620
Meyer RE., Chuong H., Hild M., Hansen C., Kinter M., Dawson DS. Ipl1/Aurora-B is necessary for kinetochore restructuring in meiosis I in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Biol Cell. 2015 Sep 1;26(17):2986-3000 PMID: 26157162 PMCID: PMC4551314
Contact
Cell Cycle and Cancer Biology Research Program, MS 48
825 NE 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104
Phone: (405) 271-8193
Fax: (405) 271-7312
E-mail: Regis-Meyer@omrf.org