Dr. Peter Marinkovich's lab studies epithelial tissues, the extracellular matrix of which plays a critical role in many important biological processes such as tissue development and differentiation, wound healing, tumor invasion, cell proliferation and cell migration. A highly organized array of these molecules, termed the basement membrane, lies at the interface of epithelial tissues with surrounding stroma. Cell surface receptors termed integrins transmit the informational cues brought about by changes in the extracellular environment, and transmit them, via intracellular signaling, to effect changes in epithelial gene expression. Laminins and collagens are molecules of the extracellular matrix which play particularly crucial roles in epithelial development.