Hosted by the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Host: Anne Ridley
We use bowel as a model to study how stem cells are programmed to maintain a healthy organ and what goes wrong when cancer develops.
The cells lining the inside of the bowel are constantly being replenished, keeping the gut healthy and functioning correctly. This process depends on stem cells – specialised ‘immortal’ cells that keep multiplying, producing new stem cells and replacement lining cells.
We want to find out how these stem cells are controlled in healthy guts and what happens when they go wrong, leading to bowel cancer. We are particularly interested in a molecule called Wnt, which sends signals to the stem cells to keep them growing and multiplying properly. Overactive Wnt signals are found in many bowel cancers, causing the stem cells to grow out of control and form a tumour.
Institutional Profile: Vivian Li | Crick