Intercellular adhesion and cell polarity are crucial determinants of tissue architecture and morphogenesis. The Niessen lab asks how key regulators of cell and tissue architecture, such as intercellular junctions, polarity proteins and receptor tyrosine kinases, control the establishment and maintenance of self-renewing, multi-layered epithelia, such as the skin epidermis. How tissues link cell shape and position with cell fate essential for proper tissue function is not well understood. Using a combination of mouse genetics, high-resolution imaging and biophysical methods we explore at different length scales how cells integrate mechanical and chemical signals to build and maintain epithelial barriers. Our data indicate that feedback mechanisms between tension and signaling is essential for the formation of a functional epithelial barrier.