Epithelial Cell Polarity & Tissue Maintenance

我们的大部分器官都是由上皮细胞组成的，这些上皮细胞能够相互粘连形成组织。因为这些细胞很常见，所以大多数癌症来自上皮组织也就不足为奇了，包括肠、肾、乳腺、胰腺、肺和皮肤等。为了形成组织并留在原地，上皮细胞需要在它们的两侧形成粘附域，以便它们能够粘着它们的邻居。由于形成了粘附域，这些细胞现在可以使它们的上表面与下表面不同。与黏附一起，上皮细胞的极化是它们正常工作所必需的。极性和粘附性的丧失是癌症的一个标志，病理学家长期以来一直依赖于评估上皮细胞的形状来诊断这种疾病。我们研究组的工作重点是揭示调节上皮细胞极性和黏附的机制。通过了解这些机制，我们将能够找出癌症发生时这些细胞的问题所在，我们将更好地准备预防或解决问题。

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.