Professor Tomoyuki Tanaka

To maintain genetic integrity, a whole set of chromosomes must be inherited by daughter cells when cell division occurs. This process relies on chromosome segregation in mitosis. Errors in chromosome segregation would cause cell death and various human diseases such as congenital disorders and cancers. The research in his group focuses on two major events in early mitosis, by which chromosomes become prepared for segregation– first, chromosome re-organization involving resolution and compaction of sister chromatids; second, interactions between chromosomes and the mitotic spindle, which provide forces for chromosome segregation later in mitosis. His research aims to reveal fundamental mechanisms ensuring chromosome segregation and thus to understand the mechanisms of relevant human diseases. Please find more details of his research at https://tomotanakalab.weebly.com/research-projects.html

People in my Lab

Please find people in his group at https://tomotanakalab.weebly.com/lab-members.html

Selected Publications

• Doodhi H., Kasciukovic T., Clayton L. & Tanaka T.U. Aurora B switches relative strength of kinetochore–microtubule attachment modes for error correction. J. Cell Biol. 220, e202011117 (2021). PMID 33851957
• Booth AJR., Yue, Z, Eykelenboom JK, Luxton GWG, Hochegger H & Tanaka TU Contractile actomyosin network on nuclear envelope remnants positions chromosomes for mitosis. eLife 8, e46902 (2019). PMID 31264963
• García-Rodríguez LJ, Kasciukovic T,* Denninger V.* & Tanaka TU. Aurora B-INCENP localization at centromeres/inner kinetochores is essential for chromosome bi-orientation in budding yeast. (* equal contribution) Curr Biol, 29, 1536-44 (2019). PMID 31006596
• Eykelenboom, J.K., Gierlinski, M.*, Yue, Z.*, Hegarat, N.*, Pollard, H., Fukagawa, T., Hochegger, H., & Tanaka, T.U. Live imaging of marked chromosome regions reveals their dynamic resolution and compaction in mitosis. (* equal contribution) J. Cell Biol. 218, 1531-52 (2019). PMID 30858191
• Li S, Yue Z & Tanaka TU. Smc3 deacetylation by Hos1 facilitates efficient dissolution of sister chromatid cohesion during early anaphase. Mol Cell. 68, 605-14 (2017) PMID 29100057
• Vasileva V, Gierlinski M, Yue Z, O’Reilly N, Kitamura E & Tanaka TU. Molecular mechanisms facilitating the initial kinetochore encounter with spindle microtubules. J. Cell Biol, 216, 1609-22 (2017). PMID 28446512
• Kobayashi N, Suzuki Y, Schoenfeld LW, Müller CA, Nieduszynski C, Wolfe KH & Tanaka TU. Discovery of an unconventional centromere in budding yeast redefines evolution of point centromeres. Curr Biol, 25, 2026-33. (2015). PMID 26166782
• Kalantzaki M, Kitamura E, Zhang T, Mino A, Novák B & Tanaka TU. Kinetochore–microtubule error correction is driven by differentially regulated interaction modes. Nat Cell Biol, 17, 421-33, (2015). PMID 25751138

Please find a full list of publications at https://tomotanakalab.weebly.com/publication.html 

A)  Lectures and tutorials for undergraduate students about chromosome segregation in mitosis - Level 3 (BS31006 Gene Regulation and Expression)

B) Supervisor of Honours degree students - Lab-based projects and literature/data analysis projects

C) Supervisor of PhD students