Katrin Rietscher

• Postdoctoral fellow
• PostDoc Position at Leipzig University

Desmosomes mediate strong intercellular adhesion through desmosomal cadherins that interact with intracellular linker proteins including the plakophilins (PKPs) 1-3 to anchor the intermediate filaments. PKPs reveal overlapping but distinct expression patterns in the epidermis. So far the contribution of individual PKPs to differentially regulate de...

Keratin (K) and other intermediate filament (IF) protein mutations at conserved arginines disrupt keratin filaments into aggregates and cause human epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS; K14-R125C) or predispose to mouse liver injury (K18-R90C). The challenge for more than 70 IF-associated diseases is the lack of clinically utilized IF-targeted therap...

Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is a severe and potentially life-threatening disorder for which no adequate therapy exists. Most cases are caused by dominant mutations in keratins KRT5 or KRT14, leading to the formation of cytoplasmic keratin aggregates, profound keratinocyte fragility and cytolysis. We hypothesized that pharmacological reducti...

Desmosome remodeling is crucial for epidermal regeneration, differentiation and wound healing. It is mediated by adapting the composition and by posttranslational modifications of constituent proteins. We have previously demonstrated that plakophilin 1 (PKP1) mediates strong adhesion in suprabasal keratinocytes which is negatively regulated by insu...

Desmosomes are essential for strong intercellular adhesion and are abundant in tissues exposed to mechanical strain. At the same time, desmosomes need to be dynamic to allow for remodeling of epithelia during differentiation or wound healing. Phosphorylation of desmosomal plaque proteins appears essential for desmosome dynamics. However, the mechan...

Desmosomes are cell-cell adhesive structures essential for tissue integrity of the epidermis and the heart. Their constituents belong to multigene families giving rise to desmosomes of variable composition. So far, the functional significance of context-dependent composition in desmosome formation, dynamics or stability during epidermal differentia...

Down-regulation of adherens junctions is a frequent event in carcinogenesis. How desmosomal proteins contribute to tumor formation by regulating the balance between adhesion and proliferation is not well understood. The desmosomal protein plakophilin 1 can increase intercellular adhesion by recruiting desmosomal proteins to the plasma membrane or s...