BRFAA - Biomedical Research Foundation Academy Of Athens
Biomedical Research Foundation Academy Of AthensAcademy Of Athens

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Molecular and Genetic Analysis of Integrin Adhesion
My lab is interested in the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms that modulate cell shape and adhesion, a requirement for tissue homeostasis and remodelling during development. Cell attachment requires the functional coordination of transmembrane molecules with elements of the extracellular matrix and actin cytoskeleton. One evolutionary conserved family of adhesion molecules that mediate stable and dynamic adhesion is integrins. We use the powerful genetic tools of Drosophila to study how the integrin adhesome-a network of cytoplasmic proteins that link integrins to cytoskeleton- function in concert with integrins and regulate various morphogenetic processes. Our work is focused on a) genetic analysis of the core members of the integrin adhesome and b) employ functional genomic and live-imaging approaches to identify and characterize novel genes that affect cell adhesion and actin cytoskeleton organization in developing muscles and epithelia.

Final goal: Identifying key genes and further characterizing the molecular mechanism of their function in the whole organism as well as second-site screens designed to uncover novel genetic modifiers, will provide a framework of understanding and modeling human diseases such as cardiomyopathies, muscular dystrophies and cancer.

 

Our work is funded by AFMTelethon, Fondation Sante and GSRT (Program THALES)