Faculty

Raymond C. Chan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

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Research Interests

Higher order chromosome structures and organization play critical roles in cell division, gene regulation and DNA damage response. My lab studies how higher-order chromosome structures are established and maintained by examining the processes that package chromosomes in preparation for cellular division. In particular, we are focusing on the contributions of chromosome cohesion, compaction and resolution toward achieving and safe-guarding the proper chromosome architectures necessary for accurate segregation. Working with the nematode model organism C. elegans, we have applied a combination of biochemical, cell biological and genetic approaches to identify the C. elegans homologs of two conserved multimeric protein complexes essential for chromosome segregation, termed cohesin and condensin. Our research also identified a novel regulator of chromosome cohesion, TIM-1, that is required for the establishment of cohesion during DNA replication. Importantly, we utilized meiotic chromosome structures in prophase as sensitive readouts to distinguish between chromosome cohesion defects from condensation and resolution defects. Research projects in my lab will further elucidate TIM-1's function in chromosome cohesion and explore TIM-1's involvement in the mechanistic connection between DNA replication and the establishment of cohesion. We will utilize C. elegans meiotic prophase as a biological readout to more accurately classify known chromosome segregation genes and to identify new genes for their roles in cohesion versus chromosome compaction. In addition, we will follow up preliminary observations implicating TIM-1 in DNA damage repair and development and growth regulation in response to environmental cues.

Education

1987-1991 B.A., Molecular Biology Major, Pomona College, Claremont, CA.

1992-1997 Ph.D., Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA Thesis Advisor: Douglas L. Black
Dissertation Title: The polypyrimidine tract binding protein mediates the splicing repression required for c to src neuronal to specific alternative pre to messenger RNA splicing.

1998-2006 Postdoctoral Research, University of California, Berkeley, CA Research Advisor: Barbara J. Meyer
Research Focus: The maintenance of genomic stability during cell division, using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system to study the impact of higher order DNA architecture on chromosome segregation.

Honors and Awards

1990-1991 Research Laboratory Technician, Laboratory of Loren H. Rieseberg, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens, Claremont, CA

1991-1992 Research Associate, Cetus (Chiron) Corporation, Emeryville, CA.

1993-1996 Cellular and Molecular Biology Training Grant, UCLA

1996 Molecular Biology Institute Graduate Fellowship, UCLA

1999-2002 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Postdoctoral Fellowship

2003-2006 Staff Research Associate, Laboratory of Barbara J. Meyer, UC Berkeley and HHMI

2006 Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Medical School

Recent Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journals and Publications

1. Rieseberg, L. H. , Choi, H., Chan, R., and Spore, C. (1993) Genomic map of a diploid hybrid species. Heredity 70, 285-293.

2. Min, H., Chan, R. C., and Black, D. L. 1995. The generally expressed hnRNP F is involved in a neural-specific pre-mRNA splicing event. Genes Dev.9: 2659-2671.

3. Chan, R. C. and Black, D. L. 1995. Conserved intron elements repress splicing of a neuron-specific c-src exon in vitro. Mol. Cell. Biol.15: 6377-6385.

4. Chan, R. C. and Black, D. L. 1997. The polypyrimidine tract binding protein binds upstream of neural cell-specific c-src exon N1 to repress the splicing of the intron downstream. Mol. Cell. Biol.17: 4667-76.

5. Chu, D. S., Dawes, H. E., Lieb, J. D., Chan, R. C., Kuo, A. F., and Meyer, B. J. 2002. A molecular link between gene-specific and chromosome-wide transcriptional repression. Genes Dev.16: 796-805.

6. Chan, R. C., Chan, A., Jeon, M., Wu, T. F., Pasqualone, D., Rougvie, A. E., and Meyer, B. J. 2003. Chromosome cohesion is regulated by a clock gene paralogue TIM-1. Nature423: 1002-1009.

7. Chan, R. C., Severson, A. F., and Meyer, B. J. 2004. Condensin restructures chromosomes in preparation for meiotic divisions. J. Cell Biol.167: 613-625.

Book Chapter

1. Black, D. L., Chan, R. C., Min, H., Wang, J., and Bell, L. 1998. The Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay for RNA Binding Proteins. In RNA:Protein Interactions: A Practical Approach (ed. C. W. J. Smith), pp. 109-136. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Lab Members