Welcome to the Coulombe laboratory home page at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Our laboratory studies structure-function relationships in complex epithelial tissues, with a particular emphasis on skin. Our molecular handles to study this topic are keratin genes and their proteins. Keratin proteins form the intermediate filament network in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells.

Our goals are to define and understand keratin filament function(s) at a molecular level, and investigate the nature of the intriguing correlation that exists between keratin gene expression and the architecture, function, and homeostasis of epithelial tissues. The study of keratin genes and their proteins bring us into the worlds of skin development, skin diseases, hair follicle biology, and the self-renewal and wound-induced homeostasis of skin epithelia. In this website you will find information about our specific research activities as well as the systems and molecules that we study. Thanks for visiting us.