Jin Jiang
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Biology
Cells in an animal constantly send each other signals that tell them when to divide, what to become and where to sit in a growing organ. A small set of signaling pathways carries most of these messages, including Hedgehog (Hh), Wnt, BMP, Notch and Hippo, and they are shared from fruit flies to humans.
- Fields
Biology
Biochemistry
Genetics
- Topics
Hedgehog signaling
Hh pathway
Smoothened
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2031
What they work on
- Determine how different levels or durations of Hedgehog signal produce different outcomes inside cells, combining genetics, biochemistry, biophysics and cell biology in Drosophila and mammalian cells.
- Investigate how kinase condensation, the clustering of signaling enzymes, carries the Hedgehog signal from the receptor Smoothened (Smo) to the transcription factor Ci/Gli, including in mammalian cells that rely on primary cilia.
- Dissect how the Hippo, Hedgehog and BMP pathways control self-renewal, division and specialization of intestinal stem cells during normal upkeep and regeneration, using the adult Drosophila intestine.
More about the research
When these signals go wrong, the result can be birth defects or cancer. Abnormal Hedgehog activity, for example, is involved in medulloblastoma, the most common childhood brain cancer, and in basal cell carcinoma, the most common skin cancer. The lab asks how signaling networks control organ development and regeneration, and it focuses mainly on the Hedgehog pathway.
Why it matters
Faulty Hedgehog signaling drives medulloblastoma and basal cell carcinoma. Learning how this and related pathways work could give new insight into the causes of birth defects and cancer, and may open new routes for cancer therapies. Understanding how signals control intestinal stem cells could also inform regenerative medicine.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Hiroshi Nakato
University of Minnesota, MN·Genetics
Determine how septate junction components, which seal neighboring gut cells together, help end regeneration in the Drosophila midgut after intestinal stem cells repair damage.
Kenneth Irvine
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Biology
Determine how phase-separated condensates of Warts with Jub, and Jub-promoted phosphorylation of the Warts N-terminus, inhibit this Hippo pathway kinase in Drosophila tissues.
Benjamin Allen
University of Michigan, MI·Genetics
Test how loss of Gli1, Gli2 or Gli3 — the transcription factors that execute Hedgehog signaling — individually and in combination affects pancreatic tumor growth, using new pancreatic fibroblast cell lines in co-transplantation assays with tumor cells.
The school
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: 40 labs on PI Pages, $869M a year on research, 86 research doctorates a year.
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