The Wnt signaling pathway, a highly conserved pathway in the animal kingdom, plays key roles in the integral development of an organism. Mutations that disrupt this signaling pathway lead to profound developmental defects in a number of tissues and organs, such as central nervous system, kidney, reproductive organs, limbs, and placenta. When uncontrolled, this signaling pathway also causes several human cancers, such as melanoma and colon cancers. Previous studies by a number of groups have identified several essential intracellular components in transducing the signal into the nucleus to initiate expression of genes that control the proliferation, differentiation and migration of the cells. However, the biochemical mechanism of Wnt signal transduction mediated by the receptors remain unclear. The research interests in the lab aim to understand the molecular mechanisms by which Wnt signals are transduced in a regulated manner and how disruption of this mechanism leads to developmental defects.

Our current researches focus on:

1. Determining the mechanism by which the receptors transduce the Wnt signals downstream;
2. Characterizing the biochemical and structural properties of Wnt proteins through systematic mutagenesis and functional assays, with the long-term goal of solving the structure of a Wnt protein;
3. Screen for molecules or chemical agents capable of modulating Wnt signaling;
4. Identifying factors governing the specificity of interactions between Wnts and their receptors;
5. Identifying genes responsive to Wnt signaling

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