Faculty News

Alan Hunt Ph.D. published in Current Biology

Intracellular nanosurgery using "ultrafast" lasers reveals the mechanics of chromosome distribution during cell division. Investigators Kevin Ke and Jun Cheng, working with Prof. Alan Hunt in the Cellular and Molecular Biomechanics Lab, have applied femtosecond pulsed lasers to precisely alter the size of chromosomes, thus perturbing the balance of forces that guide chromosome movements, and thereby demonstrating that chromosome segregation depends on the distribution of "polar ejection forces" within a cell. This work, appearing in the journal Current Biology, takes advantage of an extraordinarily sharp and small laser "scalpel" - this technology grows from earlier work in Hunt's group applying remarkably precise damage by femtosecond lasers to develop nanometer-scale machining and ablation. By establishing the role of polar ejection forces, this work is an important step forward in understanding mitosis and chromosome segregation, processes that are critical to life, and play a central role in aging, cancer, and genetic disease, and are amongst the most important targets for treating cancer.

Posted on May 19, 2009, 2:39 pm