{"id":5733,"date":"2020-10-27T11:11:24","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T15:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/?post_type=directory&#038;p=5733"},"modified":"2025-04-15T14:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T18:38:12","slug":"agladden","status":"publish","type":"directory","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/directory\/agladden\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Gladden, PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Research Interests<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Reproductive tract development<\/li>\n<li>Endometrial cancer<\/li>\n<li>Cell polarity in tissue development and disease<\/li>\n<li>Function of cell adhesion in regulating tumor progression<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Research Program<\/h2>\n<p>Cells must be able to sense neighboring cells and the surrounding environment to organize into tissues and organs in the mammalian body.\u00a0 How cells sense and communicate with adjacent cells is a fundamental question investigated in the Gladden lab.\u00a0 In particular, we study how cell adhesion and cell polarity are intertwined in normal tissue development and how these pathways are altered in diseases such as cancer.\u00a0 We use a combination of 3D cell culture, mouse models and protein biochemistry to study how cell polarity and adhesion regulate tissue organization.\u00a0 Our work focuses on the interplay between cell adhesion proteins at the adherens junction and cell polarity proteins and how these proteins regulate tissue organization.\u00a0 We concentrate on the epithelium of the endometrium in the female reproductive tract and have shown that proteins of the junctional polarity complex, including the tumor suppressor protein Merlin and the polarity protein Par3, are critical regulators of endometrial gland development and are disrupted in endometrial cancer.\u00a0 We are currently investigating how specific mutations in endometrial epithelial cells promote changes in cell differentiation and organization that lead to neoplasia development.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1.jpg\" data-slb-active=\"1\" data-slb-asset=\"2070591241\" data-slb-internal=\"0\" data-slb-group=\"5273\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5275 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1-1024x285.jpg\" alt=\"3D imaging of total endometrial epithelium from wild-type and Merlin-deficient endometrium\" width=\"1024\" height=\"285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1-1024x285.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1-300x83.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1-768x214.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1-1536x428.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1-2048x571.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1-600x167.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-1.jpg 1118w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>3D imaging of total endometrial epithelium from wild-type (left) and Merlin-deficient endometrium (right)<\/strong>. Arrows indicate involution of glandular cells in wild-type endometrium (left) and no glandular involution in Merlin-deficient.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-2.jpg\" data-slb-active=\"1\" data-slb-asset=\"721361230\" data-slb-internal=\"0\" data-slb-group=\"5273\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5276 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-2-1024x407.jpg\" alt=\"Summary model for regulation of gland formation by Merlin\" width=\"1024\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-2-1024x407.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-2-300x119.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-2.jpg 658w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-2-1536x611.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-2-2048x815.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/01\/AG-picture-2-600x238.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Summary model for regulation of gland formation by Merlin<\/strong>. Wild-type endometrium (left) have luminal cells that turn on gland specific transcripts (green cells) and the gland undergoes involution in to the stroma to form the functional gland morphology. Merlin-deficient endometrium (right) has initiation of the glandular program but the gland structure cannot form due to increased basal tension resulting in loss of glandular function.<\/p>\n<p><strong>List of publications from<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Gladden+AB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>PubMed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/10\/trained-mentor-graduate-education.jpg\" alt=\"Trained Mentor\" width=\"240\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/10\/trained-mentor-graduate-education.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/646\/2020\/10\/trained-mentor-graduate-education-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research Interests Reproductive tract development Endometrial cancer Cell polarity in tissue development and disease Function of cell adhesion in regulating tumor progression Research Program Cells must be able to sense neighboring cells and the surrounding environment to organize into tissues and organs in the mammalian body.\u00a0 How cells sense and communicate with adjacent cells is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pathology\/directory\/agladden\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Andrew Gladden, PhD\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5277,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-5733","directory","type-directory","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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