Cell-cell adhesion Lab

Functional analysis of cell-cell adhesions

Cells adhere to each other to integrate into tissues. Examples are epithelial and endothelial cells that form selective barriers between compartments of different compositions, or retinal cells to form a light sensing and signal transmitting sensory tissue. To be able to adhere, cells form specialised cell-cell adhesion complexes (tight and adherens junctions, desmosomes and gap junctions). Assembly and disassembly of the cell-cell adhesion complexes are tightly regulated during physiological conditions but is disturbed in pathological situations such as wounds, inflammation, neovascularisation, transformation or retinal dystrophies. Our research interest is to understand the molecular mechanisms through which cell-cell junctions crosstalk with each other and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion complexes to regulate tissue formation, cell proliferation and gene expression. Our findings are used not only to understand physiologically complex processes ranging from tubulogenesis of epithelial and endothelial cells to the development of the embryo and the eye but also to identify novel therapeutic tools to reverse pathological conditions such as proliferative or degenerative eye diseases as well as tumorigenesis.

People

Principal Investigator

Professor Maria S. Balda

Current lab members

Holly Thomas
Tiansheng Liu
Wenyi Jiang

Past lab members

Ana Alonzo-Carrizo Fernandez
Robert Beal
Steve Terry
Ceniz Zihni
Ahmed Elbediwy
Clara Gathmann
Sandra Hemkemeyer
Zerin Alimajstorovi
Clare Mills
Anna Tsapara
Saima Aijaz
Juliette Delafosse
Ellie Lynam
Mei Nie
Anna Tsapara
Olga Tornavaca
Minghao Chia