The Diacylglycerol kinase alpha is a key regulator of epithelial cells polarization

During these three years of PhD fellowships I have been studying how the lipid kinase Diacylglycerol kinase alpha regulates epithelial cells polarization. All the results were obtained under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Graziani, in the laboratory of Biochemistry of the Department of Translational Medicine in Novara (Italy). The main purpose of my PhD project was to elucidatethe Diacylglycerol kinase alpha downstream signalling in 3D-high polarized MDCK cells, which organize in structures known as cysts. MDCK cysts are a key tool to understand the molecular pathways that regulate cystogenesis and tubulogenesis. The Diacylglycerol kinase alpha is a central player during MDCK cystogenesis and the data obtained in MDCK cysts strongly correlates its enzymatic activity to proper cystogenesis and luminogenesis, as well as to mitotic spindle orientation during cell mitosis. These new findings further confirm that the Diacylglycerol kinase alpha is a key regulator of different biological processes and provide a strong link between Diacylglycerol kinase alpha catalytic activity and cystogenesis, targeting of protein at different cellular compartments and proper orientation of the mitotic spindle.