How stem cells become sick?
Our research aims to elucidate how cells alter their fates between normal or disease conditions. To address this, we model regeneration and tumorigenesis using Drosophila gonads. We use a combination of fly genetics with various imaging techniques, including immunofluorescence, single molecule RNA fluorescent in situ hybridization, OligoPaint DNA FISH, and whole-mount tissue live-imaging by superresolution microscopy. Owing to the simple anatomy and abundant genetically encoded imaging tools, this system allows us to demonstrate previously unrecognized regulatory mechanisms with an unprecedented resolution.
Our focuses are:
- 1. Changes in extracellular matrix during tissue regeneration.
- 2. Changes in chromatin states in normal stem cells and stem-like tumor cells.
- 3. Roles of nuclear non-coding RNAs in regeneration.
Our long-term goal is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that cause diseases and contribute to developing new approaches to disease prevention and therapies.
