The Cook Lab at UNC
What do we want to know?
How is the human cell division cycle organized and regulated? How might disruptions in that regulation affect normal function or cause disease? We are particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms that drive cell cycle progression and mechanisms that keep cells in a non-proliferative state.
Why do we care?
We are intensely curious about cell cycle control because this process is the basis of cell proliferation. Cell proliferation is essential during development, healing, and maintaining normal tissues. It is very important to make the right cells at the right place and time! On the other hand, unregulated cell proliferation is a hallmark of cancer. Understanding the molecular basis of cell proliferation control is the foundation of improved cancer diagnosis and treatment.
If cells begin DNA replication, then they are committed to cell proliferation. This commitment is why many of our projects focus on how the earliest steps of DNA replication are controlled. Furthermore, cancer cells not only initiate DNA replication inappropriately, but they often do a "sloppy" or inefficient job of precisely duplicating their chromosomes. These errors cause mutations that can accelerate cancer progression or cause developmental problems.
How do we figure it out?
We use a combination of cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry, and we make extensive use of single cell quantitative live and fixed cell analyses. We use cultured human cells (both cancer cell lines and normal cells) and manipulate the proteins and signaling activities in those cells with genetic and pharmacological strategies. We measure protein abundance, chromatin localization, cell cycle progression, DNA replication activity, protein-protein interactions, etc… We have active collaborations with many other cell cycle and DNA metabolism labs both at UNC and at other institutions.
Follow the link for “Publications” to run an automatic search for all the lab’s papers in PubMed.
contact Dr. Jean Cook by email at jean_cook[AT]med.unc.edu (replace "at" with @)
Above is a time lapse video of human epithelial cells expressing two different cell cycle reporters that fluoresce green or red depending on the cell cycle phase. (opens in a new window)