Franck Pichaud

LMCB, MRC Cell Biology Unit & Department of Developmental Biology, UCL Email: f.pichaud@ucl.ac.uk 1991 - BSc, Biochemistry, Pierre & Marie Curie University, Paris 1994 - Diploma Degree, Biochemistry, Pasteur institut, Paris 1997 - PhD, Pierre & Marie Curie University, Paris 1997 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Rockefeller University, New York City 2000 - Postdoctoral Fellow, New York University, New York City 2003 - Group leader, MRC, Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, UCL

Homepage
www.pichaudlab.org.uk

Epithelial Morphogenesis & Cell Polarity

Our lab is interested in understanding the cell biology that underlyies the organogenesis during development. Most organs consist in large part of epithelial cells and we are therefore primarily interested in better understanding the principles governing epithelial cell biology. We are interested in the specification and maintenance of epithelial cell apico-basal polarity with a specific focus placed on studying the morphogenesis and properties of the adherens junctions, the main epithelial cell junctional compartment.

During organogenesis, morphogenes are ultimately responsible for orchestrating the shaping of organs by promoting appropriate groove and fold formation through developmentally programmed changes in cell shape. Morphogenetic information is provided by a variety of conserved morphogenes such as Wingless, Hedgehog or TGFb, to name a few. The production of such morphogenes is often restricted to a group or groups of cells and the corresponding morphogenetic information is then propagated within the developing organ. Morphogenes are thought to participate in providing positional information to the cells, together with modulating localized cell-cell signalling within the developing tissue.

To tackle these problems, we are using the genetically amenable developing fly eye. The developing fly eye consists of a pseudostratified columnar epithelium and the principal morphogenes involved in initiating eye patterning are Hedgehog (hh) and Decapentaplegic (dpp). We have shown that hh-signalling promotes retinal patterning, in part through its ability to induce non-muscle myosin 2-driven cell constriction within the morphogenetic furrow. This wave of constricting cells initiates the exquisite patterning of the neuroepithelium that is characterized by the elaboration of evenly-spaced clusters of photoreceptor neurons. We are using live and fixed preparations to investigate at the cellular level the parameters involved in achieving eye patterning. In particular, we are focused on the role played by the acto-myosin cytoskeleton at the adherens junctions.

Recent publications

Mazzoni EO, Celik A, Wernet MF, Vasiliauskas D, Johnston RJ, Cook TA, Pichaud F, Desplan C. Iroquois complex genes induce co-expression of rhodopsins in Drosophila. PLoS Biol., 2008

Corrigall D, Walther FR, Rodriguez L, Fichelson P & Pichaud F. Hh signalling is a principal inducer of Myosin II driven epithelial cell ingression in Drosophila. Dev. Cell, 13, 730–742, 2007
Faculty of 1000 Biology: evaluations for Corrigall D et al Dev Cell 2007 Nov 13 (5) :730-42 http://www.f1000biology.com/article/id/1095991/evaluation

Bialucha CU, Ferber EC, Pichaud F, Peak-Chew SY, Fujita Y. p32 is a novel mammalian Lgl binding protein that enhances the activity of protein kinase Czeta and regulates cell polarity. J Cell Biol., 4, 575-81, 2007

Sprecher S.G, Pichaud F & Desplan C. Adult & larval photoreceptors use different mechanisms to specify the same Rhodopsin fates. Genes & Dev., 21, 2182-95, 2007

Walther FR & Pichaud F. Immunofluorescent staining and imaging of the pupal and adult Drosophila visual system. Nature Protocol, 1, 2635 - 2642, 2007

Pinal N, Goberdhan D. , Collinson L, Fujita Y, Cox I, Wilson C, Pichaud F. Regulated and polarized accumulation of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 is essential for morphogenesis of the apical membrane in photoreceptor epithelial cells. Current Biology, 16, 140–149, 2006.
Faculty of 1000 Biology: evaluations for Pinal N et al Curr Biol 2006 Jan 24 16 (2) :140-9 http://www.f1000biology.com/article/id/1031003/evaluation

Leulier F, Ribeiro P , Palmer E, Tenev T, Takahashi K, Robertson D, Zachariou A, Pichaud F, Ueda R, Meier^, P. Systematic In Vivo RNAi Analysis of Putative Components of the Drosophila Cell Death Machinery. Cell Death & Differentiation, in press

Wu S, Mehta S, Pichaud F, Bellen H, Quiocho F. The Sec15 protein, a component of the exocyst, contains a new all helix domain which interacts with a subset of Rab GTPases. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 12(10):879-85.

Wernet MF, Labhart T, Baumann F, Mazzoni EO, Pichaud F, Desplan C. Homothorax switches function of Drosophila photoreceptors from color to polarized light sensors. Cell, 115(3):267-79, 2003.

Tahayato A, Sonneville R, Pichaud F, Wernet MF, Papatsenko D, Beaufils P, Cook T, Desplan C. Otd/Crx, a dual regulator for the specification of ommatidia subtypes in the Drosophila retina. Dev. Cell, 5(3):391-402, 2003.

Cook T, Pichaud F, Sonneville R, Papatsenko D, Desplan C. Distinction between color photoreceptor cell fates is controlled by Prospero in Drosophila. Dev. Cell, 4(6):853-64, 2003.

Bessa J, Gebelein B, Pichaud F, Casares F, Mann RS. Combinatorial control of Drosophila eye development by eyeless,homothorax, and teashirt. Genes Dev., 16(18):2415-27, 2002.

Pichaud F, Desplan C. Pax genes and eye organogenesis. Curr Opin Genet Dev., 12(4):430-4, 2002.

Pichaud F, Desplan C. Cell biology: a new view of photoreceptors. Nature, 416(6877):139-40, 2002.

Pichaud F, Treisman J, Desplan C. Reinventing a common strategy for patterning the eye. Cell, 105(1):9-12, 2001.

Pichaud F, Desplan C. A new visualization approach for identifying mutations that affect differentiation and organization of the Drosophila ommatidia. Development, 128(6):815-26, 2001.

This page last modified 6 April, 2009 by LMCB Webmaster.