Cell division is one of the most fascinating event of life: from one cell, you make 2. It involves a complete reorganisation of the entire cellular content, a duplication of the genetic material and massive changes in cell morphology. The building blocks of cell division are very conserved across the tree of life- but every cell type has its own particular version of cell division. Oocytes divide without centrosomes, and position their spindle with actin. Cancer cells round up dramatically. Bacteria rely on tubulin-like proteins for cytokinesis.

In our lab, we are trying to understand how cell state controls the modality of cell division, and in turn how cell division controls cell fate. Currently, we mostly focus on cytokinesis. Indeed, abscission dynamics can vary weidly and many multicellular organisms, at one point of their development, maintain cytoplasmic bridges connecting the two daughter cells for a long period instead of severing the connection in the process called abscission.

We currently aim at:

• Investigating the conservation of the molecular mechanisms underlying abscission dynamics.
• Understanding how abscission mechanisms can be quickly rewired when fate transitions are triggered, in particular how cells can sever daughter cell connection upon differentiation.
• Understanding how abscission regulates developmental progression and how we can find new approaches to engineer developmental potential by targeting the division machinery.