We are pleased to announce our next PoL Research Seminar with a talk by Alf Honigmann from the BIOTEC. His talk is titled: Molecular Organization of Epithelial Cell Junctions
When? Wednesday, 10. December 2025, 11:00 am
Where? BCUBE, E 73-E75
Abstract:
Epithelial cells have evolved specialized cell adhesion complexes that facilitate tissue formation, provide mechanical stability and act as molecular filters between organ compartments. How these important functions emerge from the molecular organization of junctional components is poorly understood. I will first summarize our published work on how tight junctions self-assemble into functional barriers. Then I will introduce our ongoing efforts to understand how adherens and tight junctions spatially segregate within the apical-junctional-complex. Conceptually, we find that junctional self-organization is driven by an interplay of membrane and protein mediated phase separation processes that couple cell-cell adhesion to the acto-myosin cortex.