Our laboratory studies the organisation of the cell nucleus, using fluorescently-tagged proteins and antibodies to "map" specific regions and structures. We are also purifying many of these structures in order to identify as many of their protein components as possible via proteomic approaches, which will give us important clues to the functions of these structures within the cell.

Many complicated cellular functions are carried out in the nucleus, and the substructures shown below are known in some cases to be sites where these functions actually occur, and in other cases to be "storage depots" for particular proteins required by these processes. By keeping the proteins in particular regions of the nucleus, they can be recruited quickly as needed.

		Subnuclear bodies studied in our lab:
			Nucleolus
			Speckle
			Cajal body
			Gem
			PML body
Cell	Nucleus		Paraspeckle
Click on a structure in the list to visit its page, which contains more detailed information. Examples of immunostaining patterns for each subnuclear body are shown below, and can also be be followed to pages containing further information about your structure of interest.

	Nucleolus		Speckles
	Cajal Bodies (formerly referred to as coiled bodies)		Gems (gemini of Cajal bodies)
	PML Bodies		Paraspeckles (new structure identified in nucleolar proteomics project)

For more information about the use of fluorescent protein tags to study protein localization, click here.

For more information about the use of electron microscopy to study protein localization, click here.

For more information about our proteomic studies, click here.