
Dr Leopold Eckhart
Department of Dermatology
Position: Associate Professor
ORCID: 0000-0002-5645-2036
T +43 1 40400 73735
leopold.eckhart@meduniwien.ac.at
Keywords
Apoptosis; Autophagy; Caspases; Endonucleases; Epidermis; Evolution, Molecular; Genomics; Keratinocytes; Keratins; Melanocytes; Neurons; Skin; Skin Diseases
Research group(s)
Research interests
- Barrier function of the skin,
- Evolution of the skin,
- Programmed cell death,
- Autophagy,
- Genomics
Techniques, methods & infrastructure
- Comparative genomics
- Targeted gene deletions in animal models
- In vitro models of human skin
- Molecular biological, biochemical and immunohistochemical techniques
Grants
- Evolution of epidermal transglutamination (2019)
Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Stand-Alone Projects
Principal Investigator - Characterization of age-related protein accumulation in autophagy-deficient neurons. (2015)
Source of Funding: Herzfelder'sche Familienstiftung,
Principal Investigator - Evolution of epidermal cornification proteins (2015)
Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Stand-Alone Projects
Principal Investigator - Molecular evolution of the epidermis in amniotes (2011)
Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Stand-Alone Projects
Principal Investigator - The role of DNase1L2 in epidermal DNA degradation (2008)
Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Stand-Alone Projects
Principal Investigator
Selected publications
- Ehrlich, F. et al., 2018. Differential evolution of the epidermal keratin cytoskeleton in terrestrial and aquatic mammals. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(2), pp.328–340. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy214.
- Fischer, H. et al., 2014. Loss of keratin K2 expression causes aberrant aggregation of K10, hyperkeratosis, and inflammation. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 134(10), pp.2579-2588. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/jid.2014.197.
- Strasser, B. et al., 2014. Evolutionary origin and diversification of epidermal barrier proteins in amniotes. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 31(12), pp.3194-3205. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msu251.
- Fischer, H. et al., 2011. Essential role of the keratinocyte-specific endonuclease DNase1L2 in the removal of nuclear DNA from hair and nails. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 131(6), pp.1208-1215. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/jid.2011.13.
- Eckhart, L. et al., 2008. Identification of reptilian genes encoding hair keratin-like proteins suggests a new scenario for the evolutionary origin of hair. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(47), pp.18419-18423. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0805154105.