Visiting Professor Barbara Gawronska-Kozak, Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland

Title of lecture: “Scarless skin healing in mammals. Role of the transcription factor Foxn1 in skin homeostasis, wound healing and development.”

Time: Aug. 15th, 2-3PM
Place: Biocity B-side, 5th floor seminar room
Host: Artur Padzik (Genome Editing Core), artur.padzik [at] bioscience.fi

Biography:
Barbara Gawronska-Kozak received her Ph.D from University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland and her habilitation from Medical University in Bialystok, Poland in 2012. Original articles: 66.

During 2000-2010 she worked at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA as an assistant professor and head of the Regenerative Biology Laboratory. Currently she is Professor and Leader of Regenerative Biology group at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Olsztyn, Poland.

Since 2004 when Prof. Barbara Gawronska-Kozak showed that athymic nude mice (Foxn1-/-) display a unique phenomenon of scarless skin wound healing her study has been focused on understanding the mechanisms of regeneration (scar free healing) in mammals. Her laboratory has shown that Foxn1 deficient (nude) mice re-grow holes punched in their ears and heal skin injuries in a scar-free/regenerative manner similar to mammalian fetuses during intrauterine life. Followed study revealed that non-active in nude mice Foxn1 can act as a regulator of the skin wound healing process participating in re-epithelialization and being involved in scar formation due to its activity during the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Recently, Prof. Gawronska-Kozak’s team using next-generation high-throughput DNA sequencing and proteomics analysis showed that Foxn1 appears to be a pivotal control element of the developmental program and skin maturation. Their current study is focused on the interaction between Foxn1 and hypoxia associated elements during cutaneous wound healing process that drive physiological decision considering the type of healing: regeneration or repair.

Selected publications:
Kur-Piotrowska A, Bukowska J, Kopcewicz MM, Dietrich M, Nynca J, Slowinska M & Gawronska-Kozak B. (2018) Foxn1 expression in keratinocytes is stimulated by hypoxia: further evidence of its role in skin wound healing. Sci Rep. 2018 Apr 3;8(1):5425. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23794-5.

Kur-Piotrowska A., M. Kopcewicz, LP. Kozak, P. Sachadyn, A. Grabowska & B. Gawronska-Kozak (2017) Neotenic phenomenon in gene expression in the skin of Foxn1 deficient (nude) mice and 14 day old fetuses– projection for regenerative skin wound healing. BMC Genomics. 2017;18(1):56.

Kopcewicz M., A. Kur-Piotrowska, J. Bukowska, J. Gimble & B. Gawronska-Kozak (2017) Foxn1 and Mmp-9 expression in intact skin and during excisional wound repair in young, adult and old C57Bl/6 mice. Wound Repair & Regeneration 2017 Apr;25(2):248-259. doi: 10.1111/wrr.12524. Epub 2017 Apr 19.

Gawronska-Kozak B., A. Grabowska, A. Kur-Piotrowska, M. Kopcewicz (2016) Foxn1 Transcription Factor Regulates Wound Healing of Skin through Promoting Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition. PLOS One; Mar 3;11(3):e0150635.

Gawronska-Kozak B., (2014) Preparation and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Ears of Adult Mice. In Ormond A. Macdougald, editor: Methods of Adipose Tissue Biology Part B, Vol 538, MIE, UK: Academic Press, 2014, pp. 1-13.

Gawronska-Kozak B., (2011) Scarless skin wound healing in FOXN1 deficient (nude) mice is associated with distinctive matrix metalloproteinase expression. Matrix Biology. May;30(4):290-300.

Gawronska-Kozak B., M Bogacki, J Rim, W. Todd Monroe, Jessica A. Manuel (2006) Scarless skin repair in immunodeficient mice. Wound Repair and Regeneration vol. 14; 256-276.

Gawronska-Kozak B., (2004) Regeneration in the ears of immunodeficient mice: identification and lineage analysis of mesenchymal stem cells. Tissue Engineering 2004 Jul/Aug; 10:1251-1265