Robust Control of the Stem Cell Niche

概述跨学科实验室关注一个首要问题：生物防治如何管理 异质性和实现稳健性，以及颠覆这种机制如何增加疾病风险。至 为了解决这个问题，实验室研究了基本的机制，并开发了新的技术来探索这种 在高时空分辨率下活体动物的过程： 1)实验室发现非编码RNA(NcRNA)，如长非编码RNA(LncRNA)和微RNA 会引发不对称的细胞分裂，限制可塑性。NcRNA对健康组织不是必需的，但可以被触发 在炎症诱导的修复再生过程中，打开不对称分裂以保护组织完整性。 2)实验室发现，快周期和慢周期的肠道干细胞可以通过不对称直接相互转换 分裂，代表了组织的最佳生存策略。 3)为了解决目前植入模型的局限性，实验室开发了一种新的趋化因子-靶向 通过以下途径操纵细胞迁移将人类细胞植入具有免疫活性的小鼠宿主的技术 胚胎胸腺建立中枢免疫耐受。 4)一种集腹窗、3D打印支架和透明石墨烯传感器于一体的新装置 首次被设计用于演示肠道神经系统的现场记录。 未来五年的目标，该实验室将探索三个领域： 目标1.阐明调节不对称分裂和保护组织完整性的ncRNA机制， 例如，为了了解它们不对称分离的机制并识别这种LncRNAs和microRNAs 一种系统化的方式。 目标2：使用活体成像了解肠道干细胞生态位的时空动态， 激光烧蚀和多尺度随机模拟。 目标3.使用ATAC-seq和CRISPR-Cas9对肠道细胞系进行表观遗传学分析和重新编程 基于表观基因组编辑。 具有电子工程背景的视觉，PI一直对生物能力感兴趣 电路使用非常不精确的组件和看似凌乱的体系结构来执行强大的功能，在 相比之下，人造电路依赖于精确的器件和精心布局的设计。这个 拟议的研究试图加深我们对组织动态平衡的理解，并强调 在动力学和稳健性方面的潜在生物回路。该实验室还将开发新的工具来 让研究界提出目前不可能提出的问题。这项研究将提供新的见解 并为未来的再生医学做出贡献。

Overview The interdisciplinary lab focuses an overarching question: how biological controls manage heterogeneity and achieve robustness, and how subversion of such mechanisms heightens risk for disease. To address this question, the lab studies fundamental mechanisms and develops new technology to probe such processes in live animals at high spatiotemporal resolution: 1) The lab has discovered that non-coding RNA (ncRNA) such as long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and microRNA can initiate asymmetric cell division and limit plasticity. Not essential for healthy tissue, ncRNA can be triggered to turn on asymmetric division to safeguard tissue integrity during inflammation-induced reparative regeneration. 2) The lab discovered that fast- and slow-cycling intestinal stem cells can directly interconvert via asymmetric division, representing an optimal survival strategy for the tissue. 3) To address the limitation of current engraftment models, the lab developed a novel chemokine-targeting technology to engraft human cells into immunocompetent mouse hosts by manipulating cell migration via embryonic thymus to build central immune tolerance. 4) A new device integrating an abdominal window, a 3D-printed scaffold, and a transparent graphene sensor has been designed to demonstrate live recording of the enteric nervous system for the first time. Goals In the next five years, the lab will explore three areas: Goal 1. Elucidating the ncRNA mechanisms that regulate asymmetric division and safeguard tissue integrity, e.g., to understand their mechanism of asymmetric segregation and to identify such lncRNAs and microRNAs in a systematic way. Goal 2. Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of the intestinal stem cell niche using intravital imaging, laser ablation, and multiscale stochastic modeling. Goal 3. Epigenetic profiling and reprogramming of intestinal cell lineages using ATAC-seq and CRISPR-Cas9- based epigenome editing. Vision With a background in electrical engineering, the PI has always been intrigued by the ability of biological circuits to perform robust functions with very imprecise components and seemingly messy architectures, in contrast to man-made electrical circuits which rely on precise devices and carefully laid-out designs. The proposed study attempts to deepen our understanding of tissue homeostasis and highlights the sophistication of underlying biological circuitry in terms of dynamics and robustness. The lab will also develop new tools for the research community to ask the kind of questions that are impossible right now. The study will provide new insight into disease conditions and contribute to future regenerative medicine.