Epithelial Cell Polarity & Tissue Maintenance

我们的大多数器官由上皮细胞组成，它们能够相互粘附形成组织。因为这些细胞是如此常见，所以大多数癌症来自上皮组织，包括肠，肾，乳腺，胰腺，肺和皮肤等，这并不奇怪。为了形成组织并保持原位，上皮细胞需要在它们的侧面形成粘附结构域，以便它们可以粘附到它们的邻居。在形成粘附结构域之后，这些细胞现在可以使它们的顶表面不同于它们的底表面。与粘附一起，上皮细胞的极化是它们正常工作所必需的。极性和粘附的丧失是癌症的标志，病理学家长期以来一直依赖于评估上皮细胞形状来诊断这种疾病。我们研究小组的工作重点是揭示调节上皮细胞极性和粘附的机制。通过了解这些机制，我们将能够弄清楚当癌症发生时这些细胞出了什么问题，我们将更好地预防或解决问题。

Most of our organs consist of epithelial cells, which are able to adhere to one another to form tissues. Because these cells are so common, it is not surprizing that most cancers come from epithelial tissues, including the intestine, kidney, breast pancreas, lung and skin to name a few. In order to form tissues and stay in place, epithelial cells need to form adhesion domains on their sides so that they can stick to their neighbours. Having formed adhesion domains, these cells can now make their top surface different from their bottom surface. Together with adhesion, the polarization of the epithelial cells is needed for them to work properly. Loss of polarity and adhesion is a hallmark of cancer and pathologists have long relied on assessing epithelial cell shape to diagnose of this disease. Work in our research group focuses on uncovering the mechanisms that regulate polarity and adhesion in epithelial cells. By understanding these mechanisms we will be able to figure out what goes wrong with these cells when cancer arises, and we will be better equipped to prevent or fix the problem.