The findings offer important new insights into cancer and developmental disorders, helping explain how the body tries to protect itself and what happens when it can’t.

Genes that control the process of cutting the bridge between dividing cells, called “abscission,” have already been linked to both cancer and neurodevelopmental disorders. But until now, scientists have been uncertain exactly what happens when abscission goes wrong in the developing brain. UVA’s new insights will help researchers in their efforts to develop new ways to prevent the harmful effects of abscission mistakes.

“The early brain is a sheet of cells that look like a honeycomb. The cells need to divide rapidly to expand the sheet so they can build a brain of the right size. Every time they divide, there is a thin bridge left between them that needs to be cut,” explained researcher Noelle D. Dwyer, Ph.D., of UVA’s Department of Cell Biology, the UVA Brain Institute and UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center.