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The Lencer laboratory studies the cell and molecular biology of vesicular transport in polarized epithelial cells and regulation of ion transport in the intestine. These studies relate to how intestinal epithelial cells interact with the luminal and sub-epithelial micro-environment, and to the biology of bacterial pathogenesis and host defense at mucosal surfaces.
The lab has discovered how some enteric bacterial toxins breech the intestinal epithelial barrier and enter host epithelial cells to cause disease. These toxins hijack the cellular and molecular mechanisms of retrograde membrane transport to move from the luminal cell surface into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of affected cells, the total reverse of protein biosynthesis.
In another project, the lab studies the cell and molecular biology of the MHC Class I-like IgG receptor FcRn. FcRn transports IgG across mucosal surfaces where it may function in immune surveillance and host defense. In a third area of interest, the lab aims to understand the mechanisms and regulation of intestinal Cl- secretion, the initial ion transport event in secretory diarrhea.
The Lencer Lab is also conducting research projects on oral and pulmonary delivery of protein therapeutics and on clotrimazole for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.
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