Our skin and mucous membranes are protected by epithelial cells. This 'barrier' tissue performs its function thanks to specialized structures called 'junctions'. They ensure cell cohesion and regulate ...

Our skin and mucous membranes protect us like vigilant sentinels against the onslaught of harmful pathogens. This extraordinary defense owes its strength to epithelial cells—specialized tissues woven ...

In many types of cells, networks of actin filaments are found beneath the cell cortex, which is the meshwork of membrane-associated proteins that supports and strengthens the plasma membrane.

In secretory cells such as gonadotropes, the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane is associated with a dense meshwork of actin filaments (termed cortical actin) and actin binding proteins that play ...

Notably, cortical actin filaments were absent from the extending blebs, which indicated that actin polymerization was not driving membrane extension. Moreover, calcium influx preceded blebbing and ...

My earlier research started at Min Wu’s lab of Pattern Formation at the National University of Singapore (2019) and Yale University School of Medicine (2020-2021), where I studied the dynamic ...

Indeed, gamma-actin-deficient mice show altered architecture of the apical surface of epithelial cells and progressive hearing loss. A stiffer cortical membrane may be required to withstand the ...