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Munira A. Basrai, Ph.D.

Munira A. Basrai, Ph.D.

  • Center for Cancer Research
  • National Cancer Institute
  • Building 41, Room B624
  • Bethesda, MD 20892-5055
  • 240-760-6746
  • 240-760-7012 (Lab)
  • 240-541-4529
  • basraim@nih.gov
Genetics Branch

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Dr. Basrai’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms for faithful chromosome segregation in budding yeast and human cells. Her group uses multi-organismal (yeast, mouse and human cells) and multi-disciplinary (genetic, cell biology, biochemical and genome-wide) approaches to identify and characterize pathways that prevent chromosomal instability (CIN) an important hallmark of cancers. Basrai laboratory has characterized the role of centromere binding proteins and provided mechanistic insights into how acetylation, phosphorylation, sumoylation and ubiquitination of centromeric histone H3 variant, Cse4,(CENP-A in humans) and H4 regulate chromosome segregation. They have shown that mislocalization of Cse4 to non-centromeric regions leads to CIN in yeast and extensive use of genome-wide screens has identified pathways that prevent mislocalization of Cse4 to prevent CIN. Mislocalization of CENP-A is observed in many cancers. Her group has established that mislocalization of CENP-A contributes to CIN and aneuploidy with karytotypic heterogeneity in human cells and xenograft mouse model. These studies provide critical insights into CIN and will allow translation of basic science research to the clinic and aid in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancers such as those that overexpress CENP-A.

Areas of Expertise

Mitosis
Chromosome Segregation
Centromeric Histones
Epigenetic Mechanisms
Aneuploidy

Publications

Selected Recent Publications

CENP-A overexpression promotes aneuploidy with karyotypic heterogeneity

Shrestha RL, Rossi A, Wangsa D, Hogan AK, Zaldana KS, Suva E, Chung YJ, Sanders CL, Difilippantonio S, Karpova TS, Karim B, Foltz DR, Fachinetti D, Aplan PD, Ried T, Basrai MA
Journal of Cell Biology. 220(4): 2021. [ Journal Article ]

R-loops at centromeric chromatin contribute to defects in kinetochore integrity and chromosomal instability in budding yeast

Mishra PK, Chakraborty A, Yeh E, Feng W, Bloom KS, Basrai MA
Molecular Biology of the Cell. 32(1): 74-89, 2020. [ Journal Article ]

Skp, Cullin, F-box (SCF)-Met30 and SCF- Cdc4-Mediated Proteolysis of CENP-A Prevents Mislocalization of CENP-A for Chromosomal Stability in Budding Yeast

Au WC, Zhang T, Mishra PK, Eisenstatt JR, Walker RL, Ocampo J, Dawson A, Warren J, Costanzo M, Baryshnikova A, Flick K, Clark DJ, Meltzer PS, Baker RE, Myers C, Boone C, Kaiser P, Basrai MA.
PLoS Genetics. 16(2): e1008597, 2020. [ Journal Article ]

SUMO-Targeted Ubiquitin Ligase (STUbL) Slx5 regulates proteolysis of centromeric histone H3 variant Cse4 and prevents its mislocalization to euchromatin

Ohkuni K, Takahashi Y, Fulp A, Lawrimore J, Au WC, Pasupala N, Levy-Myers R, Warren J, Strunnikov A, Baker RE, Kerscher O, Bloom K, Basrai MA.
Molecular Biology of the Cell. 27(9): 1500-1510, 2016. [ Journal Article ]

Genome-wide haploinsufficiency screen reveals a novel role for γ-TuSC in spindle organization and genome stability

Choy JS, O'Toole E, Schuster BM, Crisp MJ, Karpova TS, McNally JG, Winey M, Gardner MK, Basrai MA.
Molecular Biology of the Cell. 24(17): 2753-63, 2013. [ Journal Article ]

Job Vacancies

Position Degree Required Contact Name Contact Email
Postdoctoral Fellow - Cancer, Cell Cycle Ph.D. or equivalent Munira A. Basrai basraim@nih.gov

Team

Research Biologist
Wei-Chun Au, Ph.D.
Associate Scientist
Prashant Mishra, Ph.D.
Research Fellow
Kentaro Ohkuni, Ph.D.
Research Fellow
Roshan Shrestha, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
Mai Tran, B.S.
Postdoctoral Fellow (Visiting)
Vinutha K. Balachandra, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (Visiting)
Subhash C Sethi, Ph.D.
Post-Baccalaureate Fellow (CRTA2)
Abeni Zafar Kazi, B.S.

News

Lauren DIttman-Poster Award NIH Postbac Day (2014)

John Choy-NIH Fellows Award for Excellence in Research (2011, 2012)

Lars Boeckmann-NIH Fellows Award for Excellence in Research (2013, 2014)

Mae Staples-Poster Award for NIH Postbac Day (2016)

Ziad Jowhar-Best talk Award, South Eastern Regional Yeast Meeting (2016)

Oliver Kerscher-Exceptional Pay Increase (2002, 2003)

Alumni

Bridget Todd Hughes
Bridget Todd Hughes
1999-2001
Post-bac fellow
Reuben Lewy-Myers
Reuben Lewy-Myers
2017-2019
Summer Intern
Lars Boekmann
Lars Boekmann
2010-2015
Post doctoral fellow
Mae Staples
Mae Staples
2015-2016
Post bac fellow
Grace Sora Ahn
Grace Sora Ahn
2017
Post-bac fellow
Tianyi Zhang
Tianyi Zhang
2015-2018
Research Fellow
Evelyn Suva
Evelyn Suva
2018-2020
Post-bac fellow
Sultan Ciftci
Sultan Ciftci
2009-2011
Postdoctoral Fellow
Yoshimitsu Takahashi
Yoshimitsu Takahashi
2008-2011
Research Fellow
James Kastenmayer
James Kastenmayer
2004-2006
Post-doctoral Fellow
Andrew Hong
Andrew Hong
2005
Post-bac fellow
Suveena Sharma
Suveena Sharma
2005-2008
Research Fellow
Jessica Eisenstatt
Jessica Eisenstatt
2016-2020
Post-doctoral fellow
Oliver Kerscher
Oliver Kerscher
2000-2003
Postdoctoral Fellow
John Choy
John Choy
2006-2013
Research Fellow