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Sarah E. Millar, Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Dermatology and Cell & Developmental Biology Director of Research, Department of Dermatology

M8D Stellar-Chance Laboratories
422 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6100

Tel: 215-898-2633
Fax: 215-573-9102
Email: millars@mail.med.upenn.edu

 
 

Education
1982        B.A.        Cambridge University, U.K.
1987        Ph.D.      University of London, U.K.

Research Area of Interest
Development of hair follicles, mammary glands, taste papillae and teeth; regeneration and neogenesis of hair follicles and teeth; hair follicle, mammary gland and dental stem cells; skin and mammary gland tumorigenesis; microRNA functions in embryonic and postnatal skin and mammary glands; functions of histone deacetylases in skin and hair follicle development and renewal.

Research Summary

Our research is focused on understanding cell-cell signaling mechanisms controlling development, stem cell function and regeneration of the epidermis and organs such as hair follicles, mammary glands, taste papillae and teeth that arise from embryonic ectoderm (ectodermal appendages). We have shown that Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is required for initiating the formation of hair follicles, mammary glands and taste papillae from multipotent cells in the embryonic surface ectoderm. We are currently using genetic approaches to determine how Wnt signaling is regulated and patterned within the skin, and are utilizing activation of this pathway in strategies for organ regeneration. We are using genetic approaches to identify Wnt ligands and receptors required for appendage development, and to investigate the roles played by non-beta-catenin mediated Wnt signaling in the skin. We are also interested in epigenetic mechanisms controlling development, differentiation, regeneration and tumorigenesis. We are studying the functions of Dicer, Drosha and miRNAs in the formation and maintenance of hair follicles and mammary glands, and investigating the mechanisms by which histone deacetylases control self-renewal and differentiation of skin stem cells.



Dr. Millar's Lab Personnel:

Olivia Antosiewicz Undergraduate student
Yeon-Sook Choi, Ph.D. Post-doctoral fellow
Fang Liu, Ph.D. Post-doctoral fellow
Vivek Sharma Undergraduate student
Xinjiang Wu, Ph.D. Research Associate
Mingang Xu, Ph.D. Research Associate

Selected Publications

  1. Andl, T, Reddy ST, Gaddapara, T & Millar, SE (2002). WNT signals are required for the initiation of hair follicle development.Developmental Cell, 2, 643-653.

  2. Andl T, Ahn K, Kairo A, Chu EY, Wine-Lee L, Reddy ST, Croft NJ, Cebra-Thomas JA, Metzger D, Chambon P, Lyons KM, Mishina Y, Seykora JT, Crenshaw EB 3rd, Millar SE. (2004). Epithelial Bmpr1a regulates differentiation and proliferation in postnatal hair follicles and is essential for tooth development. Development, 131, 2257-68.

  3. Chu EY, Hens J, Andl T, Kairo A, Yamaguchi TP, Brisken C, Glick A, Wysolmerski JJ, Millar SE. (2004). Canonical WNT signaling promotes mammary placode development and is essential for initiation of mammary gland morphogenesis. Development, 131, 4819-29.

  4. Andl, T, Murchison, E P, Liu, F, Zhang, Y, Yunta-Gonzalez, M, Tobias, J W, Andl, C D, Seykora, JT, Hannon, GJ, Millar, SE (2006). The miRNA processing enzyme Dicer is essential for the morphogenesis and maintenance of hair follicles. Current Biology, 6, 1041-9.

  5. Liu, F, Thirumangalathu, S, Gallant, NM, Yang, SH, Stoick-Cooper, CL, Reddy, ST, Andl, T, Taketo, MM, Dlugosz, AA, Moon, RT, Barlow, LA, Millar, SE (2007). Wnt-beta-catenin signaling initiates taste papilla development. Nat Genet. 39, 106-12.

  6. Liu, F, Chu, EY, Watt, B, Zhang, Y, Gallant, NM, Andl, T, Yang, S, Lu, M-M, Piccolo, S, Schmidt-Ullrich, R, Taketo MM, Morrisey, EE, Atit, R, Dlugosz, AA, Millar, SE (2008). Wnt/beta-catenin signaling directs multiple stages of tooth morphogenesis. Dev. Biol. 313, 210-24.

  7. Stark J, Andl T, Millar SE (2007). Hairy math: insights into hair-follicle spacing and orientation. Cell 128, 17-20.

  8. Zhang, Y, Andl, T, Yang, SH, Teta, M, Liu, F, Seykora, JT, Tobias, JW, Piccolo, S, Schmidt-Ullrich, R, Nagy, A, Taketo, MM, Dlugosz, AA, Millar, SE (2008). Activation of beta-catenin signaling programs embryonic epidermis to hair follicle fate. Development 135, 2161-72.

  9. Zhang Y, Tomann P, Andl T, Gallant NM, Huelsken J, Jerchow B, Birchmeier W, Paus R, Piccolo S, Mikkola ML, Morrisey EE, Overbeek P, Scheidereit C, Millar SE*, Schmidt-Ullrich R*. (2009). Reciprocal requirements for Eda/Edar/NF-KB and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathways in hair follicle induction. Developmental Cell 17, 49-61. *Joint last and corresponding authors. PMC2859042.

  10. Liu F, Dangaria S, Andl T, Zhang Y, Wright AC, Damek-Poprawa M, Piccolo S, Nagy A, Taketo MM, Diekwisch TG, Akintoye SO, Millar SE. (2010). beta-Catenin initiates tooth neogenesis in adult rodent incisors. J. Dent Res. 89, 909-14. PMC3148824.

  11. LeBoeuf M, Terrell A, Trivedi S, Sinha S, Epstein JA, Olson EN, Morrisey EE, Millar SE. (2010). Hdac1 and Hdac2 act redundantly to control p63 and p53 functions in epidermal progenitor cells. Developmental Cell. 19, 807-18. PMCID: PMC3003338.

  12. Teta, M, Choi, YS, Okegbe, T, Wong, G, Tam, OH, Chong, MMW, Seykora, JT, Nagy, A, Littman, DR, Andl, T, Millar, SE (2012). Inducible deletion of epidermal Dicer and Drosha reveals multiple functions for miRNAs in postnatal skin. Development, in press.

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