Reinhard Fässler, M.D., director of the Department of Molecular Medicine at the Max Planck Institute in Martinsried, Germany, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Nov. 10.
His lecture, “Cell Adhesion: Functions and Failures,” will begin at 4 p.m. in room 208 Light Hall. It is sponsored by the Department of Medicine.
Fässler’s team studies cell adhesion mediated by proteins called integrins, which reside on the surface of the cell and interact with the extracellular matrix and the actin cytoskeleton. Integrins are activated by proteins in the extracellular matrix, then cluster together and assemble large signaling hubs that contain hundreds of proteins.
Integrin-mediated adhesion and signaling play roles in a wide range of physiological and pathological situations, including normal development, tissue repair, inflammation, tumor formation and metastasis. Fässler and his colleagues use genetically altered mice to study integrin functions.
Fässler has been honored with the Hermann and Lilly Schilling Professorship and the Göran Gustafsson Prize. He is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences.
For a complete schedule of the Flexner Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.
