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Jennifer DeLuca

Professor

Office: Molecular Radiological Bioscie 237

Phone: 9704916718

Education:

  • B.S., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara

Website: https://delucalab.colostate.edu

Google Scholar: View Google Scholar Profile

About

Accurate chromosome segregation during mitosis is necessary to prevent genetic instability and aneuploidy that are associated with cancer and many types of birth defects. Central to nearly all mitotic events are kinetochores, which are large proteinaceous structures located at the primary constriction, or centromere region, of mitotic chromosomes. Kinetochores are the sites where microtubules of the mitotic spindle attach to chromosomes, and they are responsible for producing force at this attachment site for chromosome movements during mitosis. Kinetochores also function to monitor these attachments and activate a cell-cycle checkpoint which inhibits anaphase onset until all chromosomes are properly bi-oriented and aligned at the metaphase plate. Research in our lab focuses on understanding how the vertebrate kinetochore accomplishes these remarkable tasks during mitosis using a combination of cell biological, biochemical, and proteomic approaches.

Publications

  • “The role of kinetochore dynein in checkpoint silencing is restricted to disassembly of the corona” Ide, AH, DeLuca KF, Wiggan O, Markus SM, and DeLuca JG Molecular Biology of the Cell 34:ar76, 2023
  • “Hyperactive RAS/MAPK introduces cancer-specific mitotic vulnerabilities” Herman JA, Romain R, Hoellerbauer P, Shirnekhi HK, DeLuca KF, Nishimura EO, Paddison PJ, and DeLuca JG Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 119(41):e2208255119, 2022
  • “Generation and diversification of recombinant monoclonal antibodies” DeLuca KF, Mick JE, Hodges AL, Lima WC, Sherman L, Schaller KS, Anderson SM, Zhao N, Stasevich TJ, Varma D, Nilsson J, and DeLuca JG eLIFE 10:e72093, 2021
  • “BuGZ facilitates loading of spindle assembly checkpoint proteins to kinetochores in early mitosis” Shirnekhi HK, Herman JA, Paddison PJ, and DeLuca JG Journal of Biological Chemistry 295(43):14666-14677 , 2020
  • “The Hec1/Ndc80 tail domain is required for force generation at kinetochores, but is dispensable for kinetochore-microtubule attachment formation and Ska complex recruitment” Wimbish RT, DeLuca KF, Mick JE, Himes J, Jiménez-Sánchez I, Jeyaprakash AA, and DeLuca JG Molecular Biology of the Cell 31(14):1453-1473 , 2020
  • “Aurora B kinase is recruited to multiple discrete kinetochore and centromere regions in human cells” Broad AJ, DeLuca KF, and DeLuca JG Journal of Cell Biology 219(3):e201905144, 2020
  • “Hec1 tail domain function at the kinetochore-microtubule interface” Wimbish RT and DeLuca JG Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 8:43, 2020
  • “Aurora A kinase phosphorylates Hec1 to regulate metaphase kinetochore-microtubule dynamics” DeLuca KF, Meppelink A, Broad AJ, Mick JE, Peersen OB, Bayrak S, Lens SM, and DeLuca JG Journal of Cell Biology 217:163-177, 2018
  • “Aurora A kinase function at kinetochores” JG DeLuca Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 82:91-99, 2018
  • “Cofilin regulates nuclear architecture through a Myosin-II dependent mechanotransduction module” Wiggan O, Schroder B, Krapf D, Bamburg JR, and DeLuca JG Scientific Reports 7:40953, 2017