The focus of our laboratory is the regulation of apical membrane traffic in polarized epithelial cells. The highly selective delivery of a subset of newly synthesized proteins and lipids to the apical plasma membrane is necessary for maintaining the transport and barrier functions of epithelial tissues. We are interested in unraveling the mechanisms by which proteins are selected for apical delivery, incorporated into vesicular carriers, and targeted to the appropriate membrane. Current projects in the laboratory address various aspects of this highly complex process and include dissecting the biosynthetic trafficking routes of apical proteins, understanding glycan dependent apical sorting mechanisms, and determining the roles of phosphatidylinositol kinases in biosynthetic and postendocytic membrane traffic.
Click here for pdfs of selected publications from the Weisz lab.
Cresawn, K.O., Potter, B.A., Oztan, A., Guerriero, C.J., Ihrke, G., Goldenring, J.R., Apodaca, G, and Weisz, O.A. (2007) Differential involvement of endocytic compartments in the biosynthetic traffic of apical proteins. EMBO J. 26:3737-3748
Blumental-Perry, A., Haney, C.J., Weixel, K.M., Watkins, S.C., Weisz, O.A., and Aridor, M. (2006) Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate formation at ER exit sites regulates ER export. Dev. Cell. 11:671-682.
Guerriero, C.J., Weixel, K.M., Bruns, J.R., and Weisz, O.A. (2006) Phosphatidylinositol 5-kinase stimulates apical biosynthetic delivery via an Arp2/3-dependent mechanism. J. Biol. Chem. 281:15376-15384.
Potter, B.A., Weixel, K.M., Bruns, J.R., Ihrke, G., and Weisz, O.A. (2006) N-glycans mediate apical recycling of the sialomucin endolyn in polarized MDCK cells. Traffic. 7:146-154.
Weixel, K.M., Blumental-Perry, A., Watkins, S.C., Aridor, M., and Weisz, O.A. (2005) Distinct Golgi populations of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate regulated by phosphatidylinositol 4-kinases. J. Biol. Chem. 280:10501-10508.
