Amy Engevik Lab

Research Interests

The A. Engevik Lab studies the molecular motor Myosin Vb, which is responsible for proper delivery of proteins to the apical membrane of epithelial cells. Loss of functional Myosin Vb results in a congenital diarrhea disorder in humans. Mutations in Myosin Vb also give rise to liver cholestasis and is now linked to the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) and gastric cancer. Our lab focuses on the role of Myosin Vb in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal disorders and liver cholestasis.

Our recent research has highlighted the importance of Myosin Vb in regulating water transport in the intestine and maintaining polarity. Our lab uses mouse models, intestinal organoids, liver organoids and immunofluorescence imaging to comprehensively investigate alterations in epithelial cells that result from perturbation of Myosin Vb function.

Expression of Myosin Vb in intestinal villi from control and floxed mice
Figure Legend: (A) Intestinal villi from Myo5bflox/flox (control) mice and VillinCreERT2;Myo5bflox/flox (inducible Myo5b KO) mice treated with tamoxifen. Intestinal tissue was immunostained to identify the brush border (green) using gamma actin and p-glycoprotein (purple). (B) Small intestinal organoids from VillinCreERT2;Myo5bflox/flox mice were treated with ethanol (control) or 4-hydroxytamoxifen to induce Cre recombinase to achieve knockout of Myo5b in vitro. Intestinal organoids were stained for p-glycoprotein (purple) and gamma actin (green) to determine the localization of p-glycoprotein after deletion of Myo5b.

Journal cover images from the Amy Engevik laboratory