On this page
During cell division, errors made during the distribution of chromosomes to the daughter cells result in cells with an abnormal number of chromosomes, which is called aneuploidy. Aneuploidy is the cause of the majority of miscarriages and is also present in ~90 percent of solid tumors. Paradoxically, aneuploidy is universally harmful to cellular fitness, but can be advantageous to the cells under selective conditions. In the Campbell lab, we study how specific patterns of aneuploid chromosomes are selected for over time and how aneuploidy affects cellular physiology and drug resistance.
Aneuploidy has historically been very challenging to study as it affects the expression levels of hundreds of functionally unrelated genes simultaneously. To address this challenge, we have developed innovative bottom-up approaches to study aneuploidy including: 1) in vitro evolution methods for observing how aneuploidy patterns develop over time, 2) techniques for engineering aneuploidy in both yeast and human cells, and 3) ways of creating partial chromosome amplifications/deletions to determine which parts of chromosomes are primarily responsible for aneuploidy phenotypes. We have developed these methods in both yeast and human cells to facilitate both high throughput and more disease-related research.
Chris Campbell received his PhD in biochemistry and cell biology from the University of California San Francisco. He then conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Diego before forming his own group at the Max Perutz Labs in 2015.
Different cancer types have distinct patterns of aneuploidy that they acquire over time, with some specific aneuploid chromosomes being present in the vast majority of certain cancers. Often, these patterns are very complex, consisting of many different chromosome gains and losses in the same tumor. We have therefore developed methods to observe the formation of complex aneuploid karyotypes over time to investigate what factors determine the selection of such patterns. These studies have revealed many basic principles underlying aneuploidy selection.
Aneuploidy is generally bad for the growth and viability of cells due to imbalances in gene expression between chromosomes. It is therefore surprising how frequently aneuploid chromosomes arise as adaptive mechanisms instead of other, more targeted mutations. One reason for this may be that aneuploidy has the ability to alter the expression of many different genes at the same time. We have therefore developed methods for systematically analyzing how combinatorial effects of genes lead to strong aneuploidy phenotypes.
Aneuploidy resulting from defects in chromosome segregation during meiosis is the cause of the majority of miscarriages. We are working to uncover novel mechanisms regulating meiotic chromosome segregation to determine what makes this process uniquely error-prone. In addition, we are testing the possibility that meiosis provides a barrier to adaptation via aneuploidy.
Adaptation to spindle assembly checkpoint inhibition through the selection of specific aneuploidies.
Adell, Manuel Alonso Y; Klockner, Tamara C; Höfler, Rudolf; Wallner, Lea; Schmid, Julia; Markovic, Ana; Martyniak, Anastasiia; Campbell, Christopher S
Adaptation to high rates of chromosomal instability and aneuploidy through multiple pathways in budding yeast.
Clarke, Matthew N; Marsoner, Theodor; Adell, Manuel Alonso Y; Ravichandran, Madhwesh C; Campbell, Christopher S
Aurora B activity is promoted by cooperation between discrete localization sites in budding yeast.
Marsoner, Theodor; Yedavalli, Poornima; Masnovo, Chiara; Fink, Sarah; Schmitzer, Katrin; Campbell, Christopher S
The Campbell Group is supported through the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" program.
The Campbell group participates in in the special Doctoral Program 'Chromosome Dynamics' reviewed and funded by the Austrian Research Fund FWF.
START Grant
VBC Industry Insights x BioNTech RandD Austria
Profiling and programming in vitro human neuronal diversity at single-cell resolution
18th Microsymposium on RNA Biology
The „Microsymposium on RNA Biology“ is an international conference that brings together young scientists, junior and senior group leaders, and company representatives from all over the world to present and discuss their latest findings in the exciting field of small RNAs and beyond. The Microsymposium was founded in 2005 and has established itself as the major small RNA meeting in Europe. It is organized by the four research institutions IMBA, IMP, GMI and the Max Perutz Labs as well as by the RNA community of the Vienna BioCenter.
Transformation Reactions of Organic Contaminants and Oxygen: From Field Sites to Reaction Mechanisms
Title to be announced
Multiscale plant bioimaging using advanced microscopy
Parthenogenesis, cryptobiosis, and the survival in extreme environmental conditions
Evading ageing: Mitochondrial and proteostatic adaptations in oocytes
Genomes in Rhodnius prolixus symbiotic system
Stem cells, immune evasion and metastasis in colorectal cancer
Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium 2024
The Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium is an annual international meeting taking place in the beautiful capital of Austria, aiming to bring together scholars from various fields studying ubiquitin/Ubl biology and protein degradation in a personal, family-like atmosphere, as suggested by the name.
The evolution and development of mollusc shells
Unraveling the Complexity of Crossover Regulation in C. elegans
Dynamics of 3D Genome Structure and Function
How superworms can help to solve our plastic waste crisis
New players in an old pathway: biology of methanogens of the TACK superphylum
Shaping morphogen gradients: from molecules to tissues and back
Studying stressed cells by in situ structural biology
Exploring Microbial Resilience: Unravelling Escherichia coliand#x27;s Stress Response at the Level of Protein Synthesis
Arbuscular mycorrhiza development and function
Deep homology and deep diversity: Evolving genetic toolkits for making and sensing light
The evolution of cell type identity and tissue microecology at the fetal-maternal interface
The unanticipated roles of PICIs and phages in bacterial evolution
Chemical targeting of subcellular protein localization
Origin and diversification of gut-derived organs in chordates
Job's Dilemma for the Genome: Why Bad Things Happen to Good Chromosomes
Connections between carbon and nitrogen cycling in the ocean
Understanding how the DNA-loop-extruding protein complex Condensin folds a chromatinized genome into mitotic chromosomes
From Roads to Rivers? Occurrence and environmental fate of tire and road wear particles and of tire-related chemicals
FENS 2024 Satellite event: Home cage behavior monitoring at the interface of animal welfare and neuroscience
Striking physiology and cell biology of (marine) environmental microorganisms
Mechanisms controlling maintenance of cohesin dependent loops
Title to be announced