In epithelial cells we identified a direct link between polarized trafficking and the maintenance of a single intestinal lumen: the depletion of the clathrin adaptor AP-1 leads to the basolateral mislocalisation of Cdc42 and PAR proteins and to the formation of multiple ectopic lumens (Shafaq-Zadah et al, 2012). We are now investigating the factors which control E-cadherin polarised distribution and the maintenance of cell-cell adhesion.
In the early embryo we study the mechanisms that control asymmetric division. In particular we examine the role of the polarity protein PAR-4 and the cullin-mediated degradation pathway in that process.