Mar 19 14：00  Hippo signaling in organize size control and stem cell regulation

Speaker：Jin Jiang

Host: Prof. Ping Wang

When: 2014-3-19 14:00

Where: Conference Room 534, School of Life Sciences

Abstract: Cell-cell communication is often mediated by conserved signaling pathways, such as Hedgehog (Hh) and Wingless (Wg)/Wnt pathways. Mutations in genes of Hh and Wg/Wnt pathways have been linked to several types of cancers including basal cell carcinomas, the most common cancer afflicting some 750,000 people every year in the United States alone. The Hh and Wg/Wnt pathways are operating in a similar way among organisms as different as Drosophila and human, which means that we can use animal models to study these important pathways. We are interested in understanding how cell growth and organ size are regulated and how growth and patterning are coordinated. Toward this end, we have identified a new tumor suppressor pathway, called Hippo (Hpo) signaling pathway, which controls organ size by restricting cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis in both Drosophila and mammals. We found that KO of mammalian homologues of Hpo (MST1/2) leads to liver cancer. We are exploring the upstream regulators and downstream effectors of Hpo tumor suppressor pathway. Finally, we are interested in the mechanisms that control adult stem cell proliferation, tissue homeostasis and regeneration. We found that Drosophila adult intestine stem cells undergo excessive proliferation and differentiation to replenish lost cells in response to tissue damage. We are studying how tissue injury leads to changes in stem cell behaviors.