Cytoskeleton & cell plasticity

Inflammation-associated tissue repair and carcinoma progression rely on epithelial cell plasticity which implicates changes in the genetic program and related modifications of cell morphology and function. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is central to carcinoma progression and life-threatening metastasis. During this process, epithelial cells dissociate from each other, change form and exhibit increased motility and invasion capacities. All these modifications involve remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton. Acting as a sensor and integrator of signals from the cell environment, the actin cytoskeleton modulates the response of the cell to signals which regulate its genetic program. The team makes use of molecular cell biology, bioinformatics and mathematical modeling approaches. The main research topics are: 1) gene regulatory networks underlying epithelial cell plasticity and EMT in breast carcinoma; 2) miRNA regulations involved in this process; 3) identification of molecular markers for breast carcinoma progression, 4) contribution of the actin cytoskeleton to cell plasticity in physio-pathological situations.

Team members

• Evelyne Friederich, PhD, professor 
• Elisabeth Reckinger-Schaffner, PhD, staff scientist
• Guillaume Vetter, PhD, research assistant
• Michèle Moes, PhD, scientific collaborator
• Antony Le Béchec, PhD, scientific collaborator
• Marie Catillon, scientific support
• Alexander Halavatyi, PhD student
• Ermin Hadzic, PhD student

The group is led by Evelyne Friederich who works since 1/2007 as professor for cell biology at the UL. She has expertise in molecular cell biology and transcriptomics with a specific focus on actin cytoskeleton biology. Since 1998, EF is a research director at the French CNRS (detachment). EF has been post-doc at the Max-Planck Institute, Munich and the EMBL, Heidelberg, CNRS research assistant at the Pasteur Institute (1989-1995), group leader at the Curie Institute, Paris (1995-1999), head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the associated Microarray Centre at the Public Research Centre for Health (2000-2007). The team members have expertise in molecular cell biology, microarray-based high-throughput transcriptomics and mathematical modelling. Currently used methodologies include genetic engineering, transfection assays, RNAi, and biochemical in vitro assays. A specific emphasis is made on epifluorescence and confocal microscopy based quantitative live cell imaging.