This light microscopy image shows keratin tonofilaments (red) linking the cell sheet through connecting desmosomes, which are highlighted by desmoplakin (green). Published in Green KJ and Gaudry CA. Are desmosomes more than tethers for intermediate filaments. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 1:208, 2000.This light microscopy image shows keratin tonofilaments (red) linking the cell sheet through connecting desmosomes, which are highlighted by desmoplakin (green). Published in Green KJ and Gaudry CA. Are desmosomes more than tethers for intermediate filaments. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 1:208, 2000.
Immunofluorescence analysis of human keratinocytes that have been silenced for the desmosome constituent and armadillo protein family member, plakophilin 2. The focal adhesion marker, zyxin, was used to illustrate the presence of many large and mature focal adhesions that are observed upon loss of plakophilin 2.Immunofluorescence analysis of human keratinocytes that have been silenced for the desmosome constituent and armadillo protein family member, plakophilin 2. The focal adhesion marker, zyxin, was used to illustrate the presence of many large and mature focal adhesions that are observed upon loss of plakophilin 2.
Colony of stratifying cells stained for f-actin using fluorescently-conjugated phalloidin (red), DAPI to stain DNA (blue) and a cytoplasmic protein (green).Colony of stratifying cells stained for f-actin using fluorescently-conjugated phalloidin (red), DAPI to stain DNA (blue) and a cytoplasmic protein (green).
A transmission electron micrograph of two adjacent keratinocytes illustrating the spatial organization of the cell-cell junctions, desmosomes and adherens junctions, along the membrane.A transmission electron micrograph of two adjacent keratinocytes illustrating the spatial organization of the cell-cell junctions, desmosomes and adherens junctions, along the membrane.
Colony of stratifying epithelial cells with differentiating cells in green sitting on top of a basal layer in red from which they have emerged.Colony of stratifying epithelial cells with differentiating cells in green sitting on top of a basal layer in red from which they have emerged.
An image of an organotypic model of human epidermis typically employed in the lab to study skin development and homeostasis. This 3D epidermal “raft” is produced by plating freshly isolated primary human keratinocytes on a collagen lattice plug grown on an air liquid interface. These skin equivalents allow for the analysis of differentiation in a physiologically relevant system.An image of an organotypic model of human epidermis typically employed in the lab to study skin development and homeostasis. This 3D epidermal “raft” is produced by plating freshly isolated primary human keratinocytes on a collagen lattice plug grown on an air liquid interface. These skin equivalents allow for the analysis of differentiation in a physiologically relevant system.
Cells grown on patterns that have been coated with extracellular matrix. Green shows points of contact between cells and the substrate, while the actin cytoskeleton is labeled with fluorescently conjugated phalloidin and shown in red.Cells grown on patterns that have been coated with extracellular matrix. Green shows points of contact between cells and the substrate, while the actin cytoskeleton is labeled with fluorescently conjugated phalloidin and shown in red.
An electron micrograph of a bovine tongue desmosome. Published in Yin T, Green KJ: Regulation of desmosome assembly and adhesion. Semin Cell Develop Biol 15:665, 2004.An electron micrograph of a bovine tongue desmosome. Published in Yin T, Green KJ: Regulation of desmosome assembly and adhesion. Semin Cell Develop Biol 15:665, 2004.
Our Lab
Welcome to the Green Lab website!
Our vision is to define how cell communication and cooperation drive tissue form and function. Just as communication between people is essential for our society to thrive, so too is communication between cells in a multicellular organism essential for its existence. Our group shares a passion for understanding how cells physically stick together to provide mechanical strength to tissues and how adhesion molecules convert mechanical and other environmental cues into signals that drive individual and collective cell behaviors in development, differentiation and disease. We convert our curiosity-driven research into practical knowledge that can help us diagnose and treat adhesion-related diseases, including inherited, autoimmune and bacterial-toxin mediated skin disease, heart disease and cancer. The Green laboratory is dedicated to an open, collaborative, congenial research environment promoting high impact research while mentoring students and fellows for a future as independent scientists, educators and professionals in allied fields. Enjoy our website, and please contact any one of us if you need further information.
What we do: In the Green lab we study sub-cellular to supra-cellular biology, from molecule to man. We are elucidating the machinery that mechanically and chemically couples cells in tissues, and determining how interference with this machinery can lead to human disease. Alteration in cell-cell coupling not only changes tissue architecture, but also alters paracrine communication between different cell types, including cells of the immune system. This figure illustrates different approaches used in the lab, starting at the left and moving clockwise with: a) studies of human desmosome-related disease, b) transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to identify new interaction partners and functional changes in mRNA/protein expression, c) regeneration of human epidermis in vitro from isolated cells, d) live and fixed imaging of cells and tissues, e) biophysical approaches to study mechanical signaling, f) generation of animal models of human genetic disease and cancer including melanoma, g) biochemical and structural biology approaches. Through these approaches, we learn how human mutations alter protein dynamics and function within cells, and how mutations change cell communication within tissues to alter tissue function and immune responses. (images from: Norgett, et al. 2000. Hum. Mol. Gen.; Samuelov, et al. 2013. Nat. Genet.; Choi, et al. 2002. Nat. Struct. Biol.; O’Keefe, et al. 1989. J. Biol. Chem.)
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