Ryohichi Sugimura
Investigating a potential function of Frizzleds in hematopoietic stem cells.
Stem cells, defined both by their ability to self-renew and differentiate into specialized mature cells, and are essential to the maintenance of complex organisms. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) contribute to overall homeostasis by supporting production of hematopoiesis throughout life. Self-renewal of HSCs is essential to respond to the dynamic demands for the production of new blood cells. Despite a great deal of study, much remains to be discovered about how HSCs self-renew.
The goal of this research is to understand the mechanism of HSCs self-renewal at the molecular level. The target of my thesis research is the expression of Frizzled in HSCs. Frizzled is a family of G-coupled receptor molecules that serve as receptors in the Wnt signaling pathway, which regulates self-renewal of stem cells. Therefore, Frizzled genes are hypothesized to regulate self-renewal of HSCs.
To understand how Frizzled controls self-renewal of HSCs, the expression levels of Frizzled genes will be manipulated in HSCs using genetic engineering. If Frizzled expression is shut off, self-renewal of HSCs should be impaired. In contrast, over expression of Frizzled genes in HSCs should result in activation of HSCs self-renewal.
