Long Noncoding RNAs in Tissue Homeostasis and Disease

Research in the Kretz lab focuses on understanding the roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in regulation of mature tissue homeostasis, using human organotypic epidermis as a model system.

We are investigating the mechanisms by which lncRNAs control progenitor cell maintenance and differentiation in normal and neoplastic epidermis:                          

Recently, we have shown that several lncRNAs participate in controlling the intricate balance between progenitor cells undergoing continual regeneration in the basal layer and highly differentiated cells forming the epidermal permeability barrier