Mammalian polarity proteins in skin homeostasis

Coworkers: Soriba Letzian, Annika Graband, Peter Jeong, Michael Saynisch

How cell morphology is coordinated in the context of an entire organ is an intriguing question in biology. Using mouse models and in vitro approaches we recently identified important functions of conserved polarity proteins, initially identified in lower organisms, in tissue morphogenesis, homeostasis and pathogenesis in mammals (see Ali et al., JID 2016; Rahn et al., JID 2016; Ding et al., Nat Comm 2016). Functionally interfering with the Par3 polarity complex alters skin tumorigenesis in a context-dependent manner (see Mescher & Iden, 2015; Mescher, Jeong et al., JEM 2017). Ongoing work within this DFG-funded project addresses how polarity is modulated during epidermal homeostasis and regeneration to unravel how polarity of individual cells is coordinated to ensure skin integrity at the tissue level.