Prof. Chen Luxenburg

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

Chen Luxenburg completed his Ph.D. studies at the Weizmann Institute of Science under the supervision of Profs. Lia Addadi and Benny Geiger. For his post-doctoral training, Luxenburg moved to the laboratory of Prof. Elaine Fuchs at Rockefeller University in New York, where he studied the roles of the actin cytoskeleton in epidermal development. In October 2013, Luxenburg returned to Israel and opened his independent research group in the Cell and Developmental Biology Department. 

Cytoskeletal Regulation of Epidermal Stem Cells

Our laboratory studies how cytoskeleton-derived signals control stem cell’s ability to give rise to a functional tissue during development, to maintain it throughout life and repair it upon wounding.

The actomyosin cytoskeleton is a complex cellular structure that plays a role in many biological processes. Classic studies established its role in cell structural organization. However, new studies demonstrate that the cytoskeleton plays a major role in regulatory processes that control signal transduction, gene expression and stem cell lineage specification.

Our laboratory uses the skin epidermis as its main model system. Projects in the lab explore both skin development and skin common diseases such as cancer and psoriasis. In addition to classic genetic tools and in vivo models we also use state of the art technology to manipulate stem cells in utero. Genome wide analysis of gene expression, quantitative digital microscopy and a variety of molecular and cellular methods are all commonly used in our lab.

1.         Soffer, A.;  Mahly, A.;  Padmanabhan, K.;  Cohen, J.;  Adir, O.;  Loushi, E.;  Fuchs, Y.;  Williams, S. E.; Luxenburg, C., Apoptosis and tissue thinning contribute to symmetric cell division in the developing mouse epidermis in a nonautonomous way. PLoS Biol 2022, 20 (8), e3001756.

2.         Sedov, E.;  Koren, E.;  Chopra, S.;  Ankawa, R.;  Yosefzon, Y.;  Yusupova, M.;  Weiss, L. E.;  Mahly, A.;  Soffer, A.;  Feldman, A.;  Luxenburg, C.;  Shechtman, Y.; Fuchs, Y., THY1-mediated mechanisms converge to drive YAP activation in skin homeostasis and repair. Nat Cell Biol 2022, 24 (7), 1049-1063.

3.         Mahly, A.;  Padmanabhan, K.;  Soffer, A.;  Cohen, J.;  Omar, J.;  Sagi-Eisenberg, R.; Luxenburg, C., Anillin governs mitotic rounding during early epidermal development. BMC Biol 2022, 20 (1), 145.

4.         Gutwillig, A.;  Santana-Magal, N.;  Farhat-Younis, L.;  Rasoulouniriana, D.;  Madi, A.;  Luxenburg, C.;  Cohen, J.;  Padmanabhan, K.;  Shomron, N.;  Shapira, G.;  Gleiberman, A.;  Parikh, R.;  Levy, C.;  Feinmesser, M.;  Hershkovitz, D.;  Zemser-Werner, V.;  Zlotnik, O.;  Kroon, S.;  Hardt, W. D.;  Debets, R.;  Reticker-Flynn, N. E.;  Rider, P.; Carmi, Y., Transient cell-in-cell formation underlies tumor relapse and resistance to immunotherapy. Elife 2022, 11.

5.         Padmanabhan, K.;  Grobe, H.;  Cohen, J.;  Soffer, A.;  Mahly, A.;  Adir, O.;  Zaidel-Bar, R.; Luxenburg, C., Thymosin beta4 is essential for adherens junction stability and epidermal planar cell polarity. Development 2020, 147 (23).

6.         Nadar-Ponniah, P. T.;  Taiber, S.;  Caspi, M.;  Koffler-Brill, T.;  Dror, A. A.;  Siman-Tov, R.;  Rubinstein, M.;  Padmanabhan, K.;  Luxenburg, C.;  Lang, R. A.;  Avraham, K. B.; Rosin-Arbesfeld, R., Striatin Is Required for Hearing and Affects Inner Hair Cells and Ribbon Synapses. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020, 8, 615.

7.         Loganathan, S. K.;  Malik, A.;  Langille, E.;  Luxenburg, C.; Schramek, D., In Vivo CRISPR/Cas9 Screening to Simultaneously Evaluate Gene Function in Mouse Skin and Oral Cavity. J Vis Exp 2020,  (165).

8.         Azazmeh, N.;  Assouline, B.;  Winter, E.;  Ruppo, S.;  Nevo, Y.;  Maly, A.;  Meir, K.;  Witkiewicz, A. K.;  Cohen, J.;  Rizou, S. V.;  Pikarsky, E.;  Luxenburg, C.;  Gorgoulis, V. G.; Ben-Porath, I., Chronic expression of p16(INK4a) in the epidermis induces Wnt-mediated hyperplasia and promotes tumor initiation. Nature communications 2020, 11 (1), 2711.

9.         Luxenburg, C.; Zaidel-Bar, R., From cell shape to cell fate via the cytoskeleton - Insights from the epidermis. Exp Cell Res 2019, 378 (2), 232-237.

10.       Doron, H.;  Amer, M.;  Ershaid, N.;  Blazquez, R.;  Shani, O.;  Lahav, T. G.;  Cohen, N.;  Adler, O.;  Hakim, Z.;  Pozzi, S.;  Scomparin, A.;  Cohen, J.;  Yassin, M.;  Monteran, L.;  Grossman, R.;  Tsarfaty, G.;  Luxenburg, C.;  Satchi-Fainaro, R.;  Pukrop, T.; Erez, N., Inflammatory Activation of Astrocytes Facilitates Melanoma Brain Tropism via the CXCL10-CXCR3 Signaling Axis. Cell Rep 2019, 28 (7), 1785-1798 e6.

11.       Cohen, J.;  Raviv, S.;  Adir, O.;  Padmanabhan, K.;  Soffer, A.; Luxenburg, C., The Wave complex controls epidermal morphogenesis and proliferation by suppressing Wnt-Sox9 signaling. J Cell Biol 2019, 218 (4), 1390-1406.

12.       Cohen, J.; Luxenburg, C., Wave of the future: involvement of actin polymerization in the regulation of tissue growth and shape. Mol Cell Oncol 2019, 6 (5), e1609877.

13.       Bhattacharya, S.;  Serror, L.;  Nir, E.;  Dhiraj, D.;  Altshuler, A.;  Khreish, M.;  Tiosano, B.;  Hasson, P.;  Panman, L.;  Luxenburg, C.;  Aberdam, D.; Shalom-Feuerstein, R., SOX2 Regulates P63 and Stem/Progenitor Cell State in the Corneal Epithelium. Stem cells 2019, 37 (3), 417-429.

14.       Luxenburg, C.; Geiger, B., Multiscale View of Cytoskeletal Mechanoregulation of Cell and Tissue Polarity. Handb Exp Pharmacol 2017, 235, 263-284.

15.       Dor-On, E.;  Raviv, S.;  Cohen, Y.;  Adir, O.;  Padmanabhan, K.; Luxenburg, C., T-plastin is essential for basement membrane assembly and epidermal morphogenesis. Science signaling 2017, 10 (481).

16.       Peled, A.;  Sarig, O.;  Samuelov, L.;  Bertolini, M.;  Ziv, L.;  Weissglas-Volkov, D.;  Eskin-Schwartz, M.;  Adase, C. A.;  Malchin, N.;  Bochner, R.;  Fainberg, G.;  Goldberg, I.;  Sugawara, K.;  Baniel, A.;  Tsuruta, D.;  Luxenburg, C.;  Adir, N.;  Duverger, O.;  Morasso, M.;  Shalev, S.;  Gallo, R. L.;  Shomron, N.;  Paus, R.; Sprecher, E., Mutations in TSPEAR, Encoding a Regulator of Notch Signaling, Affect Tooth and Hair Follicle Morphogenesis. PLoS Genet 2016, 12 (10), e1006369.

17.       Zaidel-Bar, R.;  Zhenhuan, G.; Luxenburg, C., The contractome--a systems view of actomyosin contractility in non-muscle cells. J Cell Sci 2015, 128 (12), 2209-17.

18.       Luxenburg, C.;  Heller, E.;  Pasolli, H. A.;  Chai, S.;  Nikolova, M.;  Stokes, N.; Fuchs, E., Wdr1-mediated cell shape dynamics and cortical tension are essential for epidermal planar cell polarity. Nat Cell Biol 2015, 17 (5), 592-604.

19.       Luxenburg, C.;  Winograd-Katz, S.;  Addadi, L.; Geiger, B., Involvement of actin polymerization in podosome dynamics. J Cell Sci 2012, 125 (Pt 7), 1666-72.

20.       Luxenburg, C.;  Pasolli, H. A.;  Williams, S. E.; Fuchs, E., Developmental roles for Srf, cortical cytoskeleton and cell shape in epidermal spindle orientation. Nat Cell Biol 2011, 13 (3), 203-14.