Monday, October 24, at 12:10 p.m. in Todd 334
The Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering are hosting a seminar presented by Jonathan Jones, School of Molecular Biosciences, at WSU.
Jonathan is a current professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences at WSU. Jonathan received his B.A. and M.A. in Zoology at Cambridge University in England. He later received his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Following the completion of his Ph.D. he was a Postdoc at Carnegie-Mellon University and then a Research Associate at Northwestern University Medical School. Since he has been at WSU Jonathan’s research group studies the molecular basis of communication between cells and their environment and how this communication regulates homeostasis and repair of tissues. A particular focus of the group is on the interaction between epithelial cells and the laminin elements of the extracellular matrix. Our initial foray into cell-matrix interactions stemmed from wanting to characterize an intriguing matrix attachment device called the hemidesmosome found in skin and certain other epithelial tissue types. We are actively characterizing novel functions of hemidesmosome proteins and have pursued the mechanistic analyses of a number of hemidesmosome and hemidesomsome-associated proteins in different tissue systems. Current projects in the lab include investigating how laminin receptors transduce signals both into and out of cells and understanding how the dynamics of matrix adhesion sites determine directed migration in moving skin cells. These analyses involve modern cell and molecular techniques, in vitro and in vivo studies as well as high resolution light microscopical evaluation of fixed and live cells and tissues.
Jonathan has published more than 110 research papers and a number of highly cited reviews on cell junctions and laminins. This has been possible because of the generous support I have received from various funding agencies including the ACS, the AHA, the DOD and several institutes of the NIH, most notably NIAMS. Jonathan’s is very grateful that his lab has been continuously funded by federal dollars since he established it in 1987.
SKIN CELL MOTILITY: INTEGRINS LEAD THE WAY
The research interests of the Jones lab include the role of matrix adhesion sites and the cytoskeleton during tissue repair. This seminar will focus on the motility functions of a matrix receptor termed a6b4 integrin, together with its associated proteins BPAG1e and ColXVII. In intact skin, a6b4 integrin is a component of the hemidesmosome, which stabilizes keratinocyte adhesion to the connective tissue in skin. Following wounding, hemidesmosomes are disassembled to facilitate keratinocyte detachment from their underlying matrix. However, despite this loss, the genes encoding hemidesmosome proteins are upregulated in actively migrating keratinocytes. As will be discussed, knockout and knockdown studies indicate that hemidesmosome proteins function to facilitate directed migration of single skin cells. In addition, Dr. Jones will describe studies showing that hemidesmosome proteins, via interaction with the actin cytoskeleton, regulate the collective migration of sheet of keratinocytes, thereby contributing to an essential aspect of wound repair.
