The goal of our research program is to dissect the signaling network underlying tissue homeostasis and organ size control as well as its dysregulation in tumorigenesis. The recognition in the past decades that the Hippo is a crucial signaling pathway in organ size control allows us to take the first step to achieve this long-term goal.  We are taking advantage of multi-disciplinary approaches including biochemistry, cell biology, bioinformatics, proteomics and genetic mouse model, to dissect the upstream regulation and downstream cellular function  of the Hippo pathway. Given its well-established tumor suppressive role in restricting proliferation, we hope to develop therapeutic methods by utilizing this signaling pathway for cancer treatment. In addition, we are employing a proteomic approach to define the protein-protein interaction network for key signaling pathways and protein families that are related to growth control and cancer development, with the emphasis on their crosstalk with the Hippo pathway. This systematic strategy is anticipated to generate additional clues to unravel the Hippo-centered signaling network for the control of tissue homeostasis and cancer development.

Lab localization: 3302A Natural Sciences I, Irvine, CA 92697, United States