Marek Mlodzik, PhD Email Marek Mlodzik
-
- Positions
- PROFESSOR & CHAIR | Cell, Developmental & Regenerative Biology
- PROFESSOR | Ophthalmology
- PROFESSOR | Oncological Sciences
-
- Language
- English
For more information, please visit the Mlodzik Laboratory website.
Research Topics
Cell Biology, Cellular Differentiation, Cytoskeleton, Developmental Neurobiology, Drosophila, Genetics, Genomics, Growth Factors and Receptors, Oncogenes, Signal Transduction
Multi-Disciplinary Training Areas
Cancer Biology [CAB], Development, Regeneration, and Stem Cells [DRS], Genetics and Data Science [GDS], Neuroscience [NEU]
Education
Diploma, University of Basel
PhD, Biocenter, University of Basel
, University of California
Language
English
2002
Member, NIH Scientific Review Group CDF-5
NIH Scientific Review Group CDF-5
2001
Member
Harvey Society
1997
Elected Member
EMBO
1990
Senior Fellow
American Cancer Society
1990
Senior Fellow
Swiss National Science Foundation
1988
Postdoctoral fellowship
EMBO
Marek Mlodzik’s laboratory studies the establishment of epithelial planar cell polarity (PCP) regulated by Wnt/Frizzled-PCP signaling and the mechanisms of Wnt-signaling specificity regulation between the PCP and canonical beta-catenin pathways. In addition, we are interested in cross-talk between the Wnt/Frizzled pathways and Notch and Egf-receptor signaling.
Epithelial cells - in the epidermis as well as in neural epithelia - are polarized with respect to the body axis. This is not only the case in Drosophila and other insects but is a widespread feature of epithelia in both invertebrates and vertebrates. The apparent difference between whole epithelial tissue (such as the disc-epithelia in Drosophila) and cells in tissue culture is that, in addition to the apical-basolateral polarity, epithelial tissues develop an obvious polarity with respect to body axes, planar cell polarity or PCP. The Drosophila tissue polarity genes are required for correct PCP generation and mutations in them affect all epithelial tissues (both neuronal and non-neuronal). Efforts to understand the mechanisms of PCP formation have focused on the wing and the eye. In the wing, PCP is reflected in the choice of the site at which hair out-growth initiates in each cell and the direction the hair points. In the eye, PCP is reflected in the mirror-symmetric arrangement of ommatidia relative to the dorso-ventral midline, the equator. PCP mutations result in the loss of hair/bristle polarity in the wing and loss of mirror-image symmetry in the eye, with ommatidia being misrotated and adopting the chiral forms randomly. Recent findings indicate that the underlying signaling pathway(s) are not only conserved throughout evolution and regulate related aspects of coordinated cellular polarization in mammals, but that they are also linked to several human diseases, ranging from gastrulation defects to cancer, and from ciliopathies (including obesity and mental retardation) to deafness and sterility.
For more information, please visit the Mlodzik Laboratory website.
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their relationships with such companies.
Dr.Mlodzik did not report having any of the following types of financial relationships with industry during 2018 and/or 2019: consulting, scientific advisory board, industry-sponsored lectures, service on Board of Directors, participation on industry-sponsored committees, equity ownership valued at greater than 5% of a publicly traded company or any value in a privately held company. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.
Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website.
Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.
Physicians who provide services at hospitals and facilities in the Mount Sinai Health System might not participate in the same health plans as those Mount Sinai hospitals and facilities (even if the physicians are employed or contracted by those hospitals or facilities).
Information regarding insurance participation and billing by this physician may be found on this page, and can also be obtained by contacting this provider directly. Because physicians insurance participation can change, the insurance information on this page may not always be up-to-date. Please contact this physician directly to obtain the most up-to-date insurance information.
Insurance and health plan networks that the various Mount Sinai Health System hospitals and facilities participate in can be found on the Mount Sinai Health System website.