Title of Research Project:
Understanding Ubiquitin ligases in Skin Development
Research Description:
The epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, serves as a critical barrier against the outside environment. A common feature among epithelial tissues is the proper maintenance and formation of cell junctional protein complexes. Desmosomes are a type of cell-cell junctional protein complex that have been shown to interact with the COP9 signalosome (Constitutively Photomorphogenic). The desmosome-COP9 complex has been shown to downregulated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is a known signaling player in cell growth. While the desmosome-COP9 signalosome super-complex functions have been well defined for the maintenance of skin homeostasis, its interacting cullin ubiquitin ligases have not yet been explored. Through targeted protein analysis in a variety of epithelial cells lines, this research aims to identify and clarify the process by which the cullin ubiquitin ligases contributes to novel epithelial cell signaling.
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