Evolution and Morphogenesis of Epithelia
Our team investigates the origin and evolution of the defining features of epithelial tissues (intercellular junctions, apico-basal polarity, basement membrane) and the biomechanical cues that control them.
Epithelia are layers of apico-basally and planar polarized cells, connected through intercellular junctions and resting on a basal lamina. This organization allows the epithelia to resist to internal and/or external stresses, as well as to define a medium compartimentalization necessary for homeostasis. The formation of epithelia has thus been instrumental for animals to appear and evolve in all the diversity of shapes that we can observe today. The goal of our team is to understand how epithelia were first formed during evolution and how their features are conserved or modified from sponges to human. Since epithelia express many genes involved in either the formation of cell-cell junctions or in the establishment of cell polarity we are investigating their role using state-of-the-art techniques in molecular, cellular and tissue biology. We have shown that many genes essential for building junctions and apico-basal polarity in human and whose mutations are associated with cancers are already present in sponges that appeared between 600 and 800 M years ago. Our work on human intestinal epithelial cells is showing that polarity proteins such as PAR6B or CRB3 are necessary for these cells to organize as single monolayers or to modulate their internal actin cytoskeleton to migrate. We are now investigating the role of these molecules in the transmission of forces between epithelial cells using state-of-the-art physical approaches. In addition, we are deciphering the composition of junctions in both a sponge from the Marseille bay area and in a placozoan to understand how these structures have appeared and evolved during animal evolution. By taking these different approaches we hope to answer some important questions in animal cell biology.
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Team André Le Bivic
Evolution of mechanisms controlling epithelial morphogenesis across animals: new insights from dissociation-reaggregation experiments in the sponge Oscarella lobularis_edited
Team André Le Bivic
New genomic data and analyses challenge the traditional vision of animal epithelium evolution
Team André Le Bivic
The elmo-mbc complex and rhogap19d couple Rho family GTPases during mesenchymal-to-epithelial-like transitions
Team André Le Bivic
Crumbs, Moesin and Yurt regulate junctional stability and dynamics for a proper morphogenesis of the Drosophila pupal wing epithelium.
Team André Le Bivic
Role of the crumbs proteins in ciliogenesis, cell migration and actin organization
Team André Le Bivic
Hook2, a microtubule-binding protein, interacts with Par6α and controls centrosome orientation during polarized cell migration
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Team André Le Bivic
Evolution of mechanisms controlling epithelial morphogenesis across animals: new insights from dissociation-reaggregation experiments in the sponge Oscarella lobularis_edited
Team André Le Bivic
New genomic data and analyses challenge the traditional vision of animal epithelium evolution
Team André Le Bivic
The elmo-mbc complex and rhogap19d couple Rho family GTPases during mesenchymal-to-epithelial-like transitions
Team André Le Bivic
Crumbs, Moesin and Yurt regulate junctional stability and dynamics for a proper morphogenesis of the Drosophila pupal wing epithelium.
Team André Le Bivic
Animal multicellularity and polarity without Wnt signaling.
Team André Le Bivic
Role of the crumbs proteins in ciliogenesis, cell migration and actin organization
Team André Le Bivic
Binding of ZO-1 to α5β1 integrins regulates the mechanical properties of α5β1-fibronectin links.
Team André Le Bivic
Quantitative methods to study epithelial morphogenesis and polarity
Team André Le Bivic
Hook2, a microtubule-binding protein, interacts with Par6α and controls centrosome orientation during polarized cell migration
Team André Le Bivic
The PCP pathway regulates Baz planar distribution in epithelial cells.
Team André Le Bivic
P-cadherin-mediated Rho GTPase regulation during collective cell migration.
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Team André Le Bivic
The localisation of the apical Par/Cdc42 polarity module is specifically affected in microvillus inclusion disease.
Team André Le Bivic
Segmentation and Quantitative Analysis of Epithelial Tissues.
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Team André Le Bivic
Draft Genome Sequence of an Alphaproteobacterium Associated with the Mediterranean Sponge Oscarella lobularis.
Team André Le Bivic
Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of the Glass Sponge Oopsacas minuta.
Team André Le Bivic
The Crumbs3 complex
Team André Le Bivic
CRB2 acts as a modifying factor of CRB1-related retinal dystrophies in mice.
Team André Le Bivic
Drebrin E depletion in human intestinal epithelial cells mimics Rab8a loss of function.
Team André Le Bivic
Targeted Ablation of Crumbs1 and Crumbs2 in Retinal Progenitor Cells Mimics Leber Congenital Amaurosis.
Team André Le Bivic
The multi-PDZ domain protein-1 (MUPP-1) expression regulates cellular levels of the PALS-1/PATJ polarity complex.
Team André Le Bivic
Primary cilium migration depends on G-protein signalling control of subapical cytoskeleton.
Team André Le Bivic
Evolution and Cell Physiology. 4. Why invent yet another protein complex to build junctions in epithelial cells?
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Team André Le Bivic
Loss of CRB2 in the mouse retina mimics human retinitis pigmentosa due to mutations in the CRB1 gene.
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30/12/2022
Organizing the organizers
Andrea Pasini, in the Le Bivic’s team, has recently been awarded a grant from the CNRS Programme ‘Diversity of Biological Mechanisms’, to study the epithelial plasticity of Trichoplax.
10/08/2021
7 IBDM teams have received grants from ANR
7 IBDM teams have received grants from the Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR) in 2021. Congratulations to Vincent Bertrand, Harold Cremer, Pascale Durbec, André Le Bivic, Pierre-François
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Pierre Mangeol
Lecturer, AMU
Juliette Raitière
Private company
Benoît Aigouy
CRCN CNRS
Céline Burcklé
Lecturer, Rennes
Christopher Toret
Post-doc, Suisse
Veronika Aksenova
Private company, Russie
Pauline Salis
Post-doc, Suisse
Emilie Pallesi
Enginieer Inserm
Marion Sangiardi
Technicienne CNRS
Giovanna Mottola
Lecturer, AMU
Clément Ricard
Lecturer, Paris
Richard Roy
professeur, Mc Gill