Yana G. Kamberov, Ph.D.

faculty photo
Assistant Professor of Genetics
Core member Skin biology and disease research center , Perelman School of Medicine
Member- Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism and Diabetes Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine
Trainer - Dermatology T32 training grant, Perelman School of Medicine
Member Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine
Department: Genetics
Graduate Group Affiliations

Contact information
538A Clinical Research Building
415 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6145
Education:
B.A. (Molecular Biology and Biological Anthropology)
University of Pennsylvania, 2000.
Ph.D. (Cell and Developmental Biology)
Harvard University, 2008.
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Description of Research Expertise

Research Interests: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of human skin appendage development, evolution, and regeneration.

Keywords: skin appendages; development; human evolution; regeneration; niche/progenitor interaction; sweat gland, hair follicle, mammary gland; enhancer biology; mouse and human genetics

Research Details: Human skin harbors some of the most extreme and physiologically important evolutionary adaptations of our species. Research in the Kamberov lab seeks to discover how, when, and why these traits evolved, and to apply this knowledge in the development of therapeutic strategies to regenerate human skin and its critical derivatives: the sweat gland and the hair follicle. To this end, the lab leverages classical developmental genetics, high-throughput transcriptomics, in vivo genome editing in mouse and human skin, and comparative evolutionary genomics coupled with organismal level modeling and organotypic culture.

Rotation projects:
Molecular mechanisms of niche formation, maintenance, and function in the skin.
Comparative development and evolutionary divergence of primate skin appendages.


Lab Personnel:
PI: Yana Kamberov Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellows: Daniel Aldea Ph.D., Heather Dingwall Ph.D.
Graduate Students: Reiko Tomizawa (DSRB), Joan Donahue (DSRB)
Research Associate: Blerina Kokalari VMD

Selected Publications

Heather L. Dingwall, Reiko R. Tomizawa, Adam Aharoni, Peng Hu, Qi Qiu, Blerina Kokalari, Serenity M. Martinez, Joan C. Donahue, Daniel Aldea, Meryl Mendoza, Ian A. Glass, Birth Defects Research Laboratory (BDRL), Hao Wu, Yana G. Kamberov#: Sweat gland development requires an eccrine dermal niche and couples two epidermal programs. Developmental Cell 59(1), January 2024 Notes: # Corresponding author.

Abigail R. Wark, Daniel Aldea, Reiko R. Tomizawa, Blerina Kokalari, Bailey Warder, Yana G. Kamberov#: Ectodysplasin signaling via Xedar is required for mammary gland morphogenesis. J Invest Dermatol 143(8): 1529-1537, Aug 2023 Notes: # Corresponding author.

Daniel Aldea, Blerina Kokalari, Yuji Atsuta, Heather L. Dingwall, Ying Zheng, Arben Nace, George Cotsarelis, Yana G. Kamberov: Differential modularity of the mammalian Engrailed 1 enhancer network directs sweat gland development. PLoS Genetics 19(2): e1010614, Feb 2023.

Daniel Aldea, Yuji Atsuta, Blerina Kokalari, Stephen F. Schaffner, Rexxi D. Prasasya, Adam Aharoni, Heather L. Dingwall, Bailey Warder, Yana G. Kamberov#: Repeated mutation of a developmental enhancer contributed to human thermoregulatory evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 118(16): e2021722118 2021 Apr 2021 Notes: #Corresponding author.

Daniel Aldea, Blerina Kokalari, Christine Luckhart, Adam Aharoni, Paul R. Albert, Yana G. Kamberov#: The transcription factor Deaf1 modulates Engrailed-1 expression to regulate skin appendage fate. J Invest Dermatol 139(11): 2378-2381, Nov 2019 Notes: #Corresponding author.

Yana G.Kamberov#, Samantha M.Guhan, Alessandra DeMarchis, Judy Jiang, Sara Sherwood Wright, Bruce A.Morgan, Pardis C.Sabeti, Clifford J.Tabin, Daniel E.Lieberman#: Comparative evidence for the independent evolution of hair and sweat gland traits in primates. Journal of Human Evolution 125: 99-105, Dec 2018 Notes: #corresponding author.

Kamberov, Y. G., Karlsson, E. K., Kamberova, G. L., Lieberman, D. E., Sabeti, P. C., Morgan, B. A., Tabin, C. J.: A genetic basis of variation in eccrine sweat gland and hair follicle density. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112(32): 9932-7, Aug 2015.

Kamberov, Y. G., Wang, S., Tan, J., Gerbault, P., Wark, A., Tan, L., Yang, Y., Li, S., Tang, K., Chen, H., Powell, A., Itan, Y., Fuller, D., Lohmueller, J., Mao, J., Schachar, A., Paymer, M., Hostetter, E., Byrne, E., Burnett, M., McMahon, A. P., Thomas, M. G., Lieberman, D. E., Jin, L., Tabin, C. J., Morgan, B. A., Sabeti, P. C.: Modeling recent human evolution in mice by expression of a selected EDAR variant. Cell 152(4): 691-702, Feb 2013.

Cohen, E. D., Mariol, M. C., Wallace, R. M., Weyers, J., Kamberov, Y. G., Pradel, J., Wilder, E. L.: DWnt4 regulates cell movement and focal adhesion kinase during Drosophila ovarian morphogenesis. Dev Cell 2(4): 437-48, Apr 2002.

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Last updated: 02/19/2024
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