Iain Cheeseman
Associate Professor
BIOLOGY
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
United States of America
Biography
a graduate student in biology, Cheeseman began focusing on the kinetochore, a key structure that helps to divvy up DNA molecules shortly before cells divide, ensuring that each daughter cell receives a proper set of chromosomes and the genetic material they contain. Early during cell division, each chromosome is duplicated and split into two identical copies known as chromatids, which must be sorted and organized to ensure that new cells receive a single copy of each chromosome. Enter the kinetochore—a network of proteins that forms at a single site on each chromatid. The kinetochore physically connects the chromatids to an array of tiny proteins that make up the so called "mitotic spindle" and ensures that chromatids are positioned and split correctly as the spindle pulls them apart.Cheeseman did his undergraduate training at Duke University, and his graduate work at the University of California/Berkeley, where he earned a doctorate in 2002. He carried out his postdoctoral work in the lab of Arshad Desai at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in San Diego and the University of California/San Diego
Research Interest
He is defining how the attachments between kinetochores and spindle microtubules are regulated throughout cell division. He is tackling these challenges in human cells with a broad array of biochemical and cell biological research techniques
Publications
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Cheeseman, I. M., Niessen, S., Anderson, S., Hyndman, F., Yates, J. R., Oegema, K., & Desai, A. (2004). A conserved protein network controls assembly of the outer kinetochore and its ability to sustain tension. Genes & development, 18(18), 2255-2268.
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Cheeseman, I. M., Chappie, J. S., Wilson-Kubalek, E. M., & Desai, A. (2006). The conserved KMN network constitutes the core microtubule-binding site of the kinetochore. Cell, 127(5), 983-997.
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Cheeseman, I. M., & Desai, A. (2008). Molecular architecture of the kinetochore-microtubule interface. Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology, 9(1), 33.
