# Quantitative Analysis of Meiotic Chromosome Motion and Pairing

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $362,812

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Homologous chromosome pairing is a central process underlying Mendelian inheritance, but while
many genetic studies have revealed genes involved in homology recognition and recombination, the physical
process by which the chromosomes come together inside the densely packed nucleus remains poorly
understood. Telomeres of meiotic chromosomes are anchored on the nuclear envelope and attached to the
cytoskeleton, which exerts randomly directed pulling forces. A key question is how randomly directed forces
can facilitate the homology search process. Using a series of computational models, we have shown that
randomly directed telomere forces can in theory promote search in several ways: driving superdiffusive motion
of chromatin, overcoming entanglement, unpairing incorrectly paired regions to improve fidelity, and opposing
entropic de-mixing of chromosomes. We propose to test these distinct predicted functions using live cell
imaging and quantitative image analysis, combined with yeast genetics to alter the forces applied to the
chromosomes. Our results should impact not only the understanding of meiotic homolog pairing as a physical
process, but also the physical biology of chromosome motion in general as well as the broad concept of active
random motion in biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9942883
- **Project number:** 1R01GM137126-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** JENNIFER C FUNG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $362,812
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-03 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9942883

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9942883, Quantitative Analysis of Meiotic Chromosome Motion and Pairing (1R01GM137126-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9942883. Licensed CC0.

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