CELL BIOLOGY (CELL)

Groupleader: Pierre COURTOY
Email: courtoycell.ucl.ac.be
website: www.icp.ucl.ac.be/cell/
contact: CELL
               Avenue Hippocrate 75 UCL 75.41
               1200 BRUXELLES
               Tel: +32 2/764.75.41
               Fax: +32 2/764.75.43
CELL Unit Directory (People)
Research interest:
    Endocytosis: Endocytosis is a central activity of all eukaryotic cells, that allows for cell nutrition, regulates the composition of the cell surface and controls transfer of macromolecules across epithelial barriers. The role of endocytosis in signalling is also increasingly recognized. This research group has made significant contributions in the dissection of endocytic pathways and its contribution to physiopathology, parasitology as well as pharmacology, and is currently unravelling the molecular machineries controlling the endocytic activity at the apical surface of epithelia and upon malignant transformation. Recent achievements include the elucidation of the signalling cascade whereby the paradigmatic oncogenes, v-Src and K-Ras, control the actin cytocortex; the role of apical endocytosis in the regulated production of thyroid hormones; and the elucidation of a deficit of apical endocytosis in a genetic form of kidney stones.
Leaders: Pierre J. COURTOY(courtoycell.ucl.ac.be),
                Marie-France VAN DEN HOVE(vandenhovecell.ucl.ac.be)
  Extracellular matrix breakdown: The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a central role in the structural and functional organization of tissues and organs. ECM constituents, in particular fibrillar collagens, are the most abundant proteins of the human body. Physiological and pathological breakdown of ECM is predominantly achieved by a family of neutral metalloproteinases, called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). The group has a long-standing expertise in the biochemistry and molecular biology of collagenase and related MMPs. They have demonstrated that menstrual and abnormal uterine bleeding in women are due to the expression and activation of some MMPs. This seminal observation led them to : (i) exploit this system as a human model to study the regulation of MMPs, in particular cellular interactions that integrate overall hormonal impregnation with local environmental changes; and (ii) to explore whether this basic knowledge can lead to a rational treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding.
Leaders: Pierre J. COURTOY(courtoycell.ucl.ac.be),
                Etienne MARBAIX(marbaixcell.ucl.ac.be)

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