Epithelial Polarity and Zebrafish Genetics
Head of the group
Secretariat
Iris Apostel-Krause
31.1: Max Delbrück House (Hochbau)
Room: 1013
Tel. 9406-2119
Fax. 9406-2110
Epithelial cells polarize along their apico-basal and planar axes and separate apical from basolateral membrane compartments during development. Mature epithelial cells are highly polarized with separate apical and baso-lateral membrane compartments, each with a unique composition of lipids and proteins. Within mature epithelial tissues, cell polarity regulates cellular morphology, intracellular signaling, asymmetric cell division, cell migration, cellular and tissue physiology as well as complex organ morphogenesis. We are interested in the molecular mechanisms that regulate the polarization of epithelial cells and are using zebrafish as our experimental systems. We would like to understand: How do the different protein complexes that establish cell polarity interact with each other? What are the signals by which cell polarity is mediated within cells? How is cell polarity regulated within epithelial sheets during morphogenesis of tissues and organs? How is cell polarity linked to the morphogenesis of the early zebrafish heart? Several zebrafish mutants with defects of epithelial cell layers will help us to address these issues. Our long term interest is to understand how the cellular mechanisms controlling cell polarity shape our own bodies