Epithelia are a fundamental component of tissues in most metazoans. They are composed of layers of cells with a shared and characteristic apical-basal polarization of cellular components. This stereotypical organization is essential for epithelia to perform their various functions. The most common forms of cancer, called carcinomas, originate from epithelial cells. Like all cancers, they result from a breakdown in the normally tight controls over cell proliferation and survival, which leads to uncontrolled growth of a tumour. This is typically accompanied by disruption of the organization of the cells. Indeed, loss of normal cell structure is a hallmark of cancer, and a prerequisite to metastasis of solid tumours.

The research interests in the Epithelial Cell Biology Unit centre around the identification and characterization of novel signalling mechanisms that control proliferation, survival, and organization of epithelial cells during animal development. To do so, we are using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. We take advantage of the wide array of powerful molecular genetic techniques that are available with flies and their amenability to cell biological and biochemical analyses to study signalling in a physiological context. Recently, we have been analyzing a kinase called Slik that regulates both growth and organization of epithelial tissues. One aspect of our work is to understand how these distinct activities of Slik are regulated, in order to identify signals that control and co-ordinate epithelial cell proliferation and organization in vivo. We are also developing novel screening strategies to identify additional genes that are important for these processes.

Our goal is to provide insights into the basic mechanisms that are critical for the establishment and growth of developing epithelia. Given the central role of de-regulated cell proliferation, survival, and epithelial organization in cancer, we also expect to gain a better understanding of conserved signaling mechanisms that are directly relevant to cancer development and metastasis.