Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · BiologyMlodzik Polarity Lab
Marek Mlodzik · New York, New York
Research Focus
The research lab led by Dr. Marek Mlodzik focuses on understanding how cells achieve and maintain their polarized structures, which are crucial for proper organ development and function. A particular area of interest is the Wnt/Frizzled Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) signaling pathway, which has implications in various diseases, including cancer and developmental disorders. The lab conducts experiments primarily in Drosophila to explore the molecular mechanisms of cellular signaling and polarity establishment.
Wnt signalingplanar cell polarityDrosophilacell adhesionciliary proteinscell divisiondevelopmental biologyciliopathiestumor suppressors
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate mechanistic interactions of core PCP signaling factors.
AIM 02Establish connections between Fz/PCP pathway and Fat/Ds-PCP cassette.
AIM 03Dissect non-ciliary functions of ciliary proteins in Wnt signaling.
AIM 04Understand effects of PCP signaling on cell adhesion and cytoskeletal regulation.
AIM 05Examine Kinesin-2/IFT-A complex's role in nuclear translocation of beta-catenin.
Skills the Lab Values
Drosophila geneticscell culturemicroscopyRNA extractionWestern blotgenetic screeningimmunofluorescencePCRprotein interaction assays
Output against the department
Publications237top 26% of dept.267th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations17ktop 23% of dept.235th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.