Research subject:
The role of caspase-9 in hairfollicle stem cells.
Summary:
Programed cell death(PCD) serves many important functions in mammalian development and tissuehomeostasis. These include shaping tissue morphology during organogenesis and eliminatingaberrant cells within the adult organism. Given their capacity forself-renewal and differentiation into various cell types, it is unsurprisingthat stem cells (SCs) have been demonstrated to utilize PCD in the form ofapoptosis for maintenance of homeostasis and tissue repair in the adultorganism. Recently, new insights regarding the unique mechanism that instructselimination of these cells have been found. In our research, we examine theapoptotic machinery in the hair follicle, which houses a multitude of distinct stemcell populations, and how this in turn affects the environment. We foundthat deletion of Caspase-9 (Casp9) in hair follicle stemcells attenuates the apoptotic cascade, resulting in significant temporaldelays that prevent cells from being rapidly cleared. As a result, Casp9-deletedcells become mitogenic and secrete Wnt3 to the environment via acaspase-3/Dusp8/p38 pathway.
The seminar will be given inEnglish
