ABSTRACT
First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Yu-Chien Chuang is first author on ‘ Dynamic configurations of meiotic DNA-break hotspot determinant proteins’, published in JCS. Yu-Chien is a postdoctorial fellow in the lab of Gerald R. Smith at Basic Science Division, Fred Hutchinson Research Center, Seattle, USA, investigating the regulation mechanism of meiosis crossover interference.
Yu-Chien Chuang
How would you explain the main findings of your paper in lay terms?
Meiosis is a special type of cell division that reduces the number of chromosomes by half to generate sexual cells like sperms and eggs. There will be crossovers between homologous chromosomes to increase genetic diversity and to ensure proper chromosome segregation. It is thought that regulating the number and distribution of meiotic DNA double-strand-breaks (DSBs), the first step of crossover formation, would control crossover distribution, so how nearby DSB hotspots communicate is critical. In fission yeast, linear element (LinE) proteins determine meiotic DSB hotspots and help activate meiotic DSBs. LinEs within a 200 kb region form clusters, and the LinE cluster is thought to be involved in the communication between distanced DSB hotspots. In this study, I used a super-resolution microscope to show that LinEs form linear structures in live cells. LinEs first formed dot-like foci, and they underwent ‘dotty-to-linear-to-dotty’ configurational transition during meiosis, then disassembled before the first meiotic division. Linear LinE structure was not found in recombination-deficient LinE point mutants, supporting that the linear structure may be involved in other meiotic processes, like DSB repair. Our study suggests that there are two configurations of LinEs – the dotty structure may be involved in regulating meiotic DSB or crossover distribution and the linear structure may be involved in regulating DSB repair.
Were there any specific challenges associated with this project? If so, how did you overcome them?
One of the challenges of this project was quantifying the linear structure of LinE proteins from the image data. Our lab uses more genetic or physical methods to study meiotic crossover, and imaging is a new area for us. I received lots of help from the specialists of the image core and colleagues from in my institute during data analysis. I am very happy that we came up with an unbiased way to quantify my image data. It not only strengthened my research, the discussions during the analysis also inspired me a lot about the future direction.
Why did you choose Journal of Cell Science for your paper?
Journal of Cell Science always publishes high quality research papers with a variety of topics. I check Journal of Cell Science regularly for the latest findings in life science, and I am happy to also publish my own paper in it.
LinE proteins form foci during meiosis, and dotty-to-linear-to-dotty configurational transition. LinE proteins are shown in green. Nuclear location is shown by Hoechst 33342 staining (blue). The dotted line represents the outline of the cell. Scale bar: 2 μm.
Have you had any significant mentors who have helped you beyond supervision in the lab? How was their guidance special?
I am very fortunate to have Dr Gerry Smith as my mentor in my postdoc training. Dr Smith is a kind, open-minded scientist with great willpower. He is one of the most passionate scientists I know; he thinks about research projects all the time, even when he is hiking at weekends. Yet he maintains a great work–life balance, and he always reminds lab members to do the same. I also would like to thank my colleague, Dr Randy Hyppa, for giving all the valuable advice. Randy is always willing to discuss my research, and he always points out the key points. I am very grateful to be working with them.
What motivated you to pursue a career in science, and what have been the most interesting moments on the path that led you to where you are now?
I just simply like doing research. I started working in a research lab in my second year of college. At first, I joined the lab because most of my classmates joined one, but I quickly found research is what I really want to do in my life. I enjoy every moment of my experiments, whether it is successful or not, and feel excited when solving any puzzles of my project, even just a tiny piece. I am very proud of being part of the research field that is helping to reveal the mystery of life.
What's next for you?
Crossover interference is a phenomenon that had been observed for a hundred years, but the mechanism is not well understood yet. I would like to keep studying the molecular mechanism by directly testing one of my favorite models, the clustering model.
Tell us something interesting about yourself that wouldn't be on your CV
I like cooking and baking for my family and myself. I consider them to be research in the kitchen.
Yu-Chien Chuang's contact details: Basic Science Division, Fred Hutchinson Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue N, Rm A1-145, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
