Name: Ann L Miller

Position: Assistant Professor

Research Description:

In the Miller Lab, we are investigating how cytokinesis works in intact epithelial tissues, where the dividing cell is surrounded by neighboring cells and must maintain and remodel its cell-cell junctions while undergoing cytokinesis.  We know that localized activation of RhoA, a small GTPase that promotes actomyosin contractility, is required both for cytokinesis and for proper cell-cell junctions.  We don’t fully understand the signaling pathways that lead to proper localized Rho GTPase activity.  Therefore, our lab is focused on characterizing novel mechanisms by which localized Rho GTPase activity is regulated both at the cell division site and at cell-cell junctions.  Using live high-resolution confocal microscopy in Xenopus laevis embryos where potential players in Rho GTPase regulation have been perturbed, we are dissecting the mechanisms that regulate cytokinesis and cell-cell junctions in space and time.

Lab Memberships

Ann Miller Lab (Principal Investigator/Director)

Contact Information

Address:
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
University of Michigan
2117A Natural Science Bldg.
830 North University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI
48109, USA

Web Page: http://sites.lsa.umich.edu/miller-lab/
Personal Phone:  734.764.9732