Guest Talk - Regulation of Cell Turnover During Epithelial Tissue Homeostasis and Pathogenesis

Pathogenesis has long been linked to a mis-regulation of the body’s normal homeostatic processes and regenerative responses during wound healing after injury. My laboratory studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms linking the birth and death of cells in living epithelial tissues to better understand how specific genetic changes drive a change in overall cell numbers. To study cell turnover in a living epithelial tissue, we use the developing zebrafish as a genetic model system to rapidly elucidate mechanisms that regulate epithelial cell function under physiological conditions, after tissue damage, and after genetic perturbation. We monitor population dynamics and individual cell behaviors under normal and experimental conditions using high-resolution time-lapse microscopy to gain a clearer picture of how epithelia maintain overall numbers while sustaining a functional barrier. Together, our studies provide an in vivo characterization of epithelial cell turnover and create a system to identify new mechanisms controlling tissue regeneration and the changes that lead to disease progression.