Top content

Talk by Andreas Wodarz

Title: "Molecular control of actomyosin contractility during morphogenesis in Drosophila"
Occasion: SFB Seminar
Start: 21.11.2024 4:15 pm
Location: CellNanOs, 38/201

About the speaker: Prof. Dr. Andreas Wodarz conducts research at the Centre for Anatomy, University Köln.

We and others could show that the PAR proteins Bazooka/PAR-3, PAR-6 and atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) form a protein complex localized in the apical cortex of epithelial cells that controls the correct formation and positioning of adherens junctions (AJs) and plasma membrane polarity. More recently, we have isolated protein interaction partners of Bazooka/PAR-3 that are involved in the control of planar cell polarity (PCP) and the regulation of actomyosin contractility at AJs. By a combined approach using genetics, biochemistry and imaging we aim to unravel the function of molecular networks that control cell polarity and morphogenesis in the fruit fly with implications for vertebrate epithelial biology and diseases affecting epithelia, including cancer.