research areas
There are four broad areas of research in the Cohen lab, all centered on understanding how mammalian germ cells are made and what errors might occur and be responsible for the high rates of chromosomal abnormalities in human embryos. Our studies utilize mostly mouse models for meiosis, but we have extended these studies more recently to humans (see Lenzi et al, 2005), dogs, and monkeys.
The major research areas are:
1. Studies of meiotic recombination and crossover control in the mouse
2. Understanding the role of small RNAs and Argonaute proteins in meiosis
3. Exploring the role of the Fanconi Anemia pathway in mammalian germ cell development and meiosis
4. Understanding the role of the MAP kinase cascade in meiotic checkpoint control
recent publications ....
Sun X., Wu X., Cohen P.E. Non-Human primates exhibit errors in meiosis I. Molecular Reproduction and Development. In press (2012)
Sun X., Cohen P.E. Studying recombination in mouse oocytes. Methods in Molecular Biology. In Press (2012)
Modzelewski A.J., Holmes R.J., Hilz S., Grimson A., Cohen P.E. AGO4 regulates entry into meiosis and influences silencing of sex chromosomes in the male mouse germline. Developmental Cell. 23: 251-264 (2012) DOWNLOAD