Laboratory of Skin Stem Cell Dynamics
Our mission: We investigate how stem cells of the skin govern tissue homeostasis and contribute to disease pathogenesis so as to reveal novel pharmacological intervention points.
We focus on two stem cell populations that maintain distinct compartments of the skin throughout our lifetime: epidermal stem cells and hair follicle stem cells.
We use in vivo mouse models and in vitro human 2D cell culture, 3D skin organotypics and iPSC-derived skin organoids, and employ cell and molecular biology, biochemistry and omics technologies to tackle inflammatory skin diseases (atopic dermatitis, psoriasis) and hair loss (telogen effluvium, alopecia areata).
Epidermal stem cells
Epidermal stem cells are responsible for replacing the millions of cells that our skin sheds daily. They either self-renew to maintain their numbers, or differentiate into the protective barrier cells of our skin. However, how they integrate signals from their niche to determine their outcomes, and how they change their behaviours in diseased states, remain unknown. Further, how they sense dangers that have breached the skin, and in turn communicate with our immune system to maintain a healthy skin barrier, remain poorly understood. We strive to unravel these mysteries and establish epidermal stem cells as a tractable target for disease therapeutics.
Hair follicle stem cells
Hair follicle stem cells fuel cyclical hair regeneration, in between periods of rest and regression. Their activity must be tightly regulated so as to preserve their lifelong capacity to self-renew and differentiate into the various intricate cell layers of our hair follicles. We aim to identify physiological signals of hair cycling and in turn mechanisms that safeguard hair follicle stem cells throughout these cycles. We envision our findings to unlock avenues for tackling hair loss caused by dysregulated hair cycling.
Population dynamics
How our skin responds to genetics, environmental factors and disease across distinct populations of people remains poorly understood. Leveraging on the multi-racial society in Singapore, we will study how skin stem cell dynamics vary across ethnicities, add new dimensions of discovery based on Asian skin to existing knowledge that is largely based on Caucasian skin, and design strategies to stratify disease treatments accordingly.
Funding sources
