Ethan Lee
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology (CDB)
Department of Pharmacology
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC)
Program in Developmental Biology (PDB)
Epithelial Biology Center (EBC)
Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology (VICB)
Vanderbilt Center for Stem Cell Biology (VCSCB)
Our lab is interested in the basic mechanism of Wnt signal transduction, a pathway that plays critical roles in the early development of multicellular organisms and the maintenance of intestinal stem cells in adults. Misregulated Wnt signaling is often implicated in human diseases such as colorectal cancer. We use biochemistry, chemical biology, cell biology, and developmental biology to study the Wnt pathway.
We are interested in the mechanism of action of the Wnt pathway. The Wnt pathway is an ancient developmental pathway that plays an important role in stem cell maintenance in adults and is frequently mutated in human cancers. Our ultimate goal is to understand how this pathway works in sufficient detail so as to be able to devise drugs that can target Wnt signaling in human disease.
Keywords: Wnt pathway , Signal transduction , Cancer , Stem cells , Biochemistry , Cell biology , Regenerative medicine
Research Area: Stem Cell Biology & Regeneration , Cancer Biology , Cell Signaling , Developmental Biology , Chemical Biology