Research Interests
The Laboratory of Cell Cycle focuses on understanding chromosomal segregation during mitosis and meiosis, using the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a model eukaryotic organism. We conduct diverse genetic screenings to identify new proteins linked to meiosis or DNA repair. Our primary goal is to uncover the roles of these newly identified proteins within molecular pathways. We already described the function of two proteins: (i) Dbl2, which participates in the metabolism of Rad51 and DNA joint molecules, and (ii) Mal3, essential for karyogamy and promoting oscillatory nuclear movement during meiosis. We are also intrigued by the impact of proteins involved in homologous recombination on gene expression and the epigenome. Recently, we described that proteins involved in homologous recombination or replication fork stability, such as Dbl2, Fbh1, Rad54, and Mus81, are required for repression of gene expression. Interestingly, we found that the localization of these misregulated genes significantly correlated with the localization of long terminal repeats (LTRs). By studying these proteins, we seek to discover how their dysfunction can lead to various diseases, such as Down syndrome or cancer in humans.
People
Mgr. Silvia Bágeľová Poláková, PhD. – head of the group
Mgr. Anetta Bakošová, PhD.
Mgr. Mária Šmondrková – PhD student
We work in close collaboration with Mgr. Nina Mayerová, PhD. and Mgr. Katarína Gáplovská, PhD. from the Department of Genetics at Comenius University.
Selected publications
BÁGEĽOVÁ POLÁKOVÁ, Silvia – LICHTNER, Žaneta – SZEMES, Tomáš – SMOLEJOVÁ, Martina – SULO, Pavol. Mitochondrial DNA duplication, recombination, and introgression during interspecific hybridization. In Scientific Reports, 2021, vol. 11, no. 1, art. no. 12726. ISSN 2045-2322.
MIŠOVÁ, Ivana – PITEĽOVÁ, Alexandra – BUDIŠ, J. – GAZDARICA, Juraj – SEDLÁČKOVÁ, Tatiana – JORDAKOVÁ, Anna – BENKŐ, Zsigmónd – SMONDRKOVÁ, M. – MAYEROVÁ, Nina – PICHLEROVÁ, K. – STRIEŠKOVÁ, Lucia – PREVOROVSKY, Martin – GREGAN, Juraj – ČIPÁK, Ľuboš – SZEMES, Tomáš – BÁGEĽOVÁ POLÁKOVÁ, Silvia. Repression of a large number of genes requires interplay between homologous recombination and HIRA. In Nucleic acids research, 2021, vol. 49, no. 4, p. 1914-1934. ISSN 0305-1048.
HURAIOVÁ, Barbora – KANOVITS, J. – BÁGEĽOVÁ POLÁKOVÁ, Silvia – ČIPÁK, Ľuboš – BENKŐ, Zsigmónd – ŠEVČOVIČOVÁ, Andrea – ANRATHER, Dorothea – AMMERER, Gustav – DUNCAN, C.D.S. – MATA, J. – GREGAN, Juraj. Proteomic analysis of meiosis and characterization of novel short open reading frames in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. In Cell Cycle, 2020, vol. 19, no. 14, p. 1777-1785. ISSN 1538-4101.
ELSAYAD, Kareem – POLÁKOVÁ, Silvia – GREGAN, Juraj. Probing Mechanical Properties in Biology Using Brillouin Microscopy. In Trends in Cell Biology, 2019, vol. 29, no. 8, p. 6608-6611. ISSN 0962-8924.
POLÁKOVÁ, Silvia – MOLNÁROVÁ, Lucia – HYPPA, Randy W. – BENKO, Zsigmond – MIŠOVÁ, Ivana – SCHLEIFFER, Alexander – SMITH, Gerald R. – GREGAN, Juraj. Dbl2 Regulates Rad51 and DNA Joint Molecule Metabolism to Ensure Proper Meiotic Chromosome Segregation. In Plos Genetics, 2016, vol. 12, no. 6, art. no. e1006102. ISSN 1553-7390.
PHADNIS, Naina – CIPAK, Lubos – POLAKOVA, Silvia – HYPPA, Randy W. – CIPAKOVA, Ingrid – ANRATHER Dorothea – KARVAIOVA Lucia – MECHTLER Karl – SMITH Gerald R. – GREGAN Juraj. Casein Kinase 1 and Phosphorylation of Cohesin Subunit Rec11 (SA3) Promote Meiotic Recombination through Linear Element Formation. In Plos Genetics, 2015 May 20;11(5):e1005225.
CIPAK, Lubos – POLAKOVA, Silvia – HYPPA, Randy W. – SMITH, Gerald R. – GREGAN Juraj. Synchronized fission yeast meiosis using an ATP analog-sensitive Pat1 protein kinase. In Nature Protocols, 2014 Jan;9(1):223-31.
POLAKOVA, Silvia – BENKO, Zsigmond – ZHANG, Lijuan – GREGAN, Juraj. Mal3, the Schizosaccharomyces pombe homolog of EB1, is required for karyogamy and for promoting oscillatory nuclear movement during meiosis. In Cell Cycle. 2014;13(1):72-7.
GREGAN, Juraj – POLAKOVA, Silvia – ZHANG, Lijuan – TOLIC-NORRELYKKE, Iva M. – CIMINI, Daniela. Merotelic kinetochore attachment: causes and effects. In Trends in Cell Biology, 2011 Jun;21(6):374-81.
POLÁKOVÁ, Silvia – BLUME, Christian – ZÁRATE, Julian A. – MENTEL, Marek – JORCK-RAMBERG, Dorte – STENDERUP, Jorgen – PISKUR, Jure. Formation of new chromosomes as a virulence mechanism in yeast Candida glabrata. In Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2009 Feb 24;106(8):2688-93.