Biological validation of human liver somatic mutations

众所周知，肝脏是一个具有非凡再生和修复能力的器官。然而，我们不了解发生这种情况的许多基本机制，以及是什么调节损伤后的生长。我们之前的工作已经表明，某些基因似乎在使肝细胞（肝细胞）分裂和形成大群细胞方面起着重要作用。我的方法是研究在健康和终末期肝病中发生的事情，以确定参与肝脏再生的关键基因。然后，我将使用各种新颖的科学技术，如干细胞衍生的肝细胞来解开这些不同遗传途径之间的复杂关系。通过了解分子和细胞水平上发生的事情，我们最终将能够设计出治疗肝病的新方法，比如在实验室培养肝细胞进行细胞治疗，或者开发出对抗肝硬化的新药。

It is well known that the liver is an organ with extraordinary capacity for regeneration and repair. However we do not understand many of the basic mechanisms by which this occurs and what regulates the growth following injury. Our previous work has shown that certain genes seem to play an important role in enabling liver cells (hepatocytes) to divide and form large groups of cells. My approach is to study what happens in healthy and end stage liver disease in order to identify key genes which are involved in liver regeneration. I will then use a variety of novel scientific techniques, such as stem cell derived hepatocytes to unravel the complex relationship between these different genetic pathways. By understanding what goes on at the molecular and cellular level, we will ultimately be able to design new treatments for liver disease such as growing liver cells in the laboratory for cell therapies or by developing new drugs to combat cirrhosis.