专家简介

My laboratory has a long-standing interest in understanding the unique property and regulation of stem cells in the hope of translating such knowledge to treat human diseases, particularly cancer. We first identified kidney and gastric stem cells in the in vivo adult animal models through using the JAK-STAT signaling reporters. To comprehensively understand the unique property of these special cells, we performed the genome-wide RNAi screens by knocking down more than 90% of total genes in both the adult Drosophila intestinal and male germline stem cells and identified the networks that regulate stem cell fates. After many years’ intensive study of stem cell regulation, we finally found that stem cells are metabolic unique. In our landmark paper just published on Nature, we found that stem cells, like hibernating animals, rely primarily on lipid reserves for energy, so that blocking COPI/Arf1-regulated lipolysis starves them to death. We generated Arf1 CKO mouse and are following this new direction by both investigating the detail molecular mechanism of the COPI/Arf1-regulated lipolysis in stem cells in Drosophila/mouse models and identifying new anti-CSC drugs through targeting the lipolysis pathway.