Dr Ruth MacKinnon – Genome Organisation and Centromeres and the Evolution of Cancerous Cell Lines
Original Article Reference
This SciPod is a summary of the papers ‘Genome organization and the role of centromeres in evolution of the erythroleukemia cell line HEL’ from Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. DOI: 10.1093/emph/eot020, and ‘Detailed molecular cytogenetic characterisation of the myeloid cell line U937 reveals the fate of homologous chromosomes and shows that centromere capture is a feature of genome instability’ from Molecular Cytogenetics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13039-020-00517-y
About this episode
There are over 3,600 established cell lines from 150 different species that can be used for scientific and medical research. In two recent studies, Dr Ruth MacKinnon and her team from St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne used multiple molecular methods to investigate changes in the way the genes are organised in two types of these cells. They demonstrated the importance of using multiple complementary methods and found that these cells can continue to evolve in the laboratory. They also uncovered evidence of a previously unreported process called ‘centromere capture’ which may be involved in the evolution of cancer cells.
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