JEAN-CLAUDE LABBÉ, Ph.D.
- Principal Investigator, Cell Division and Differentiation Laboratory, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
AWARDS & HONOURS
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Canada Research Chair in Cell Division and Differentiation, 2006-
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New Investigator Award, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2005-2006
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Long-term Postdoctoral Fellow, European Molecular Biology Organization,
2003-2004
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Postdoctoral Fellow, National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, 2001-2002
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Postdoctoral Fellow, Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche, 1999-2000
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Doctoral Fellow, Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche, 1996-1998
TRAINING
- Postdoctoral training with Monica Gotta, Institute of Biochemistry, ETH Hönggerberg, Zurich, 2003-2005
- Postdoctoral training with Bob Goldstein, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1999-2002
- Ph.D. in biochemistry with Luis A. Rokeach and Siegfried Hekimi, Université de Montréal, 1999
RESEARCH SUPPORT
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- Canadian Cancer Society
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Trained as a biochemist, Jean-Claude Labbé has been a principal investigator at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) since 2005. His primary research subject consists on studying the mechanisms that establish cell polarity and asymmetric cell division.
After his doctoral studies in biochemistry at the Université de Montréal, Dr. Labbé did his initial postdoctoral training at the Department of Biology of the University of North Carolina. He used a cellular approach to observe and understand asymmetric cell division, using the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) worm as a model.
He studied the positioning of the mitotic spindle, an essential structure for all cell division. During asymmetric cell division, a balance of forces permits the mitotic spindle to move to one end of the cell in order to produce two cells of different sizes after division. He showed that these forces are coordinated during the cell cycle and that a transition between different types of forces coincides with the beginning of the shift of the mitotic spindle.
During the second part of his postdoctoral training in 2003-2005 at the Institute of Biochemistry, ETH Hönggerberg, Zurich, Switzerland, Dr. Labbé used a functional genomic approach to study asymmetric cell division, again using the C. elegans worm as a model. His research showed the implication of several genes involved in asymmetric cell division, which had never before been described in having such function.
Dr. Labbé and his IRIC team are still interested in these cell division genes in the C. elegans worm. Their goal is to identify and describe their exact functions. They are also looking for other genes that interact in the process, with the possible goal of establishing a network of genes that will allow them to better understand in genetic terms what happens when cells divide asymmetrically.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Hyenne V, Desrosiers M, Labbé JC (2008) C.elegans Brat homologs regulate PAR protein-dependent polarity and asymmetric cell division, Dev Biol 321: 368-378
Couwenbergs C, Labbé JC, Goulding M, Marty T, Bowerman B, Gotta M (2007) Heterotrimeric G protein signaling functions with dynein to promote spindle positioning in C. elegans. J Cell Biol 179:15-22
Labbé JC, Pacquelet A, Marty T, Gotta M (2006) A genomewide screen for suppressors of par-2 uncovers potential regulators of PAR protein-dependent cell polarity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 174:285-295
Labbé JC, McCarthy EK, Goldstein B (2004) The forces that position a mitotic spindle asymmetrically are tethered until after the time of spindle assembly. J Cell Biol 167:245-256
Labbé JC, Maddox PS, Salmon ED, Goldstein B (2003) PAR proteins regulate microtubule dynamics at the cell cortex in C. elegans. Curr Biol 13:707-714
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