Detail

Keywords

Apoptosis; Autophagy; Caspases; Endonucleases; Epidermis; Evolution, Molecular; Genomics; Keratinocytes; Keratins; Skin; Skin Diseases

Research group(s)

• Skin Biology - Leopold Eckhart
  Head: Leopold Eckhart
  Research Area: • Barrier function of the skin • Enzymatic control of epidermal cornification • Evolution and comparative genomics of the skin and skin appendages • Mechanisms of programmed cell death • Autophagy in tissue homeostasis and stress responses
  Members:
  Leopold Eckhart

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

• Molecular evolution of skin appendages (2023)
  Source of Funding: FWF (Austrian Science Fund), Einzelprojekt
  Principal Investigator
• 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

1. Carron M, Sachslehner AP, et al. (2024) Evolutionary origin of Hoxc13-dependent skin appendages in amphibians. Nature Communications 15(1), 2328. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46373-x.
2. Feng, S. et al. (2020) Dense sampling of bird diversity increases power of comparative genomics. Nature, 587(7833), pp. 252-257. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2873-9.
3. 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: https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msu251.
4. 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: https://doi.org/10.1038/jid.2011.13.
5. 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: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0805154105.