Reciprocal signalling between stem cells and their microenvironment in epidermis and tumours

干细胞经常出现在头条新闻上，因为它们有望为各种疾病找到新的治疗方法。研究人员希望通过刺激干细胞分裂来修复受损组织，并通过杀死肿瘤中的干细胞来改善癌症治疗。我们的研究将集中于表皮的干细胞，也就是皮肤的外层。我们将识别告诉干细胞产生更多干细胞或成熟为保护性细胞的信号。我们还将分析表皮干细胞与皮肤中邻近细胞交流的信号。我们正在研究的一些信号在口腔癌中发生了改变，口腔癌是一种毁灭性的疾病，有一半的患者死于口腔癌。我们将研究是否有可能识别癌细胞中发生的遗传变化，并根据这些改变的信号预测疾病的进程。通过阻断促进不受控制的肿瘤生长的信号，我们希望开发出更好的治疗这种癌症和其他类型癌症的方法。

Stem cells are frequently in the headlines because of the promise they hold for finding new treatments for a wide variety of diseases. The hope is that damaged tissue can be repaired by stimulating stem cells to divide, and that cancer treatments can be improved by killing stem cells in tumours. Our study will focus on stem cells of the epidermis, the outer covering of the skin. We will identify the signals that tell stem cells to make more stem cells or to mature into protective cells. We will also analyse the signals by which epidermal stem cells communicate with neighbouring cells in the skin. Some of the signals we are studying are altered in mouth cancer, a devastating disease that kills half of patients who develop it. We will investigate whether it is possible to identify the genetic changes that have occurred in the cancer cells and predict the course of the disease on the basis of those altered signals. By blocking the signals that encourage uncontrolled tumour growth we hope to develop better treatments for this type of cancer and others.