Research in a Nutshell
During tissue homeostasis and regeneration epithelial cells must balance proliferation, cell death and differentiation to maintain a functional organ. In the liver, this regulation requires the constant integration of signals by epithelial cells from non-epithelial, niche cells, which includes inflammatory cells and fibroblasts. In cancer, these interactions become deregulated and epithelial cells can either be regulated independent of their microenvironment or the niche becomes permissive to tumour formation.
Our lab is interested in how the signals, which come from the regenerative microenvironment drive tissue repair following injury and how these signals are co-opted by the tumour to support cancer growth. We are particularly interested in the role of the Wnt pathway in these processes and are currently working on both canonical and non-canonical Wnt signalling to define how these pathways regulate tissue architecture, using the adult liver and cancers of the adult liver as a models for these studies.
