Raab Mujarrab

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences
• Role of p31Comet Phosphorylation in Regulating the Mitotic Checkpoint Silencing in Human Cancer Cells.

Accurate chromosome segregation is very vital for genome integrity in all living organisms. There is a regulatory mechanism in place called the spindle assembly check point (SAC) that monitors this process. This regulation prevents the premature segregation of the duplicated chromosomes when the cell is dividing and will end up in cell arrest at metaphase when the right conditions are not met. A protein called p31^Comet plays critical roles in this checkpoint mechanism by dissociating the Mitotic Checkpoint Complex (MCC), which then activates the anaphase promoting complex. However only a trivial amount is known about this protein. In this research, we would like to test a hypothesis which states p31^Comet is regulated by protein phosphatases and kinases - master regulators of the cell cycle, based on the unpublished preliminary data produced in the lab. The research will also consist of the analysis of the p31^Comet behaviors in different human cancer cell lines.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Project supervisor: Dr Jun-Yong Huang