Paper alert: Microtubules regulate tissue-level navigation in skin-resident macrophages
A study led by Dr. Eric Peterman is now accepted at the Journal of Cell Science. In this paper, we use live imaging, new transgenes and chemical manipulations to identify multiple roles for the microtubule cytoskeleton in Langerhans cells, a type of macrophage found in skin.
Langerhans cells respond to injury (e.g., a skin scratch) by migrating to the wound through the skin epithelium, which contains a dense network of keratinocytes. We discovered that while migrating to wounds, Langerhans cells must navigate around keratinocyte obstacles that block their path. Successful navigation around these obstacles requires the microtubule cytoskeleton.
Read the paper here.