# Regulation of cytokinesis

> **NIH NIH R35** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $87,792

## Abstract

Summary of the parent funded grant. Cytokinesis, the physical separation of one cell into two
daughter cells, is the final stage of cell division, and although it is the least well understood, it is
central to development and tissue homeostasis. Correctly timing cytokinesis so that it occurs
only after chromosome replication and segregation is necessary to prevent catastrophic
genomic instability, and accordingly, cytokinesis is strictly regulated in concert with other cell
cycle events. Using a powerful model organism, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe,
my lab has conducted pioneering research to identify proteins essential for cytokinesis and to
learn how the myriad proteins that comprise the cell division machinery are coordinated to
ensure the exquisite spatial and temporal control of cell division. We propose to continue our
work pursuing fundamental questions in this field using a multi-disciplinary approach in two
directions. In one direction, we will tackle how cytokinesis is entrained with other events of
mitosis by investigating the defect that leads to inhibition of cytokinesis when the mitotic spindle
is disrupted, how the CK1 enzymes that regulate this branch of the mitotic checkpoint are
activated by spindle stress, and how CK1 signaling is integrated with other pathways at spindle
poles. Understanding CK1 regulation in the context of the mitotic checkpoint will also establish
general mechanisms of regulation for this enzyme family, which are conserved, multifunctional
kinases with roles in numerous human diseases. In a second direction, we will advance our
understanding of the assembly and architecture of the contractile ring using sophisticated
protein biochemistry approaches. We will continue to build our knowledge of the major scaffold
of the contractile ring, the F-BAR protein Cdc15, by defining how it oligomerizes on the plasma
membrane and how other contractile ring components are organized on the Cdc15 scaffold. We
will also test our hypothesis that multiple cell cycle and polarity kinases inhibit the establishment
of the Cdc15 scaffold at inappropriate locations and times, ensuring it only assembles in the cell
middle during mitosis. These focused mechanistic studies will be complemented with proteomic
and large-scale genetic screens designed to establish a functional interaction network of
contractile ring components. Together, these studies will have a major impact for understanding
how cytokinesis is orchestrated in eukaryotic species from yeast to humans.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10380944
- **Project number:** 3R35GM131799-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Kathleen L Gould
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $87,792
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10380944

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10380944, Regulation of cytokinesis (3R35GM131799-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10380944. Licensed CC0.

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