哺乳动物肝脏和胰腺发育机理；
细胞信号、表观遗传对发育过程中基因网络的调控；
胚胎干细胞定向分化的调控。

        肝脏及胰腺相互协调在代谢的过程中发挥关键作用。在胚胎发育的早期，肝脏和胰腺的祖细胞从前肠内胚层的一个多能细胞区域竞争性起源，这个过程受到一些共同的转录因子调控，因此肝脏及胰腺的发育过程通常放在一起进行研究。

        本实验室长期研究方向主要集中在肝脏及胰腺发育过程中细胞分化以及器官建成机制等方面，这些都是肝脏及胰腺再生研究的重要基础。另外，对胚胎发生过程中肝脏及胰腺的发育的深入理解可以指导体外胚胎干细胞分化成成熟的肝实质细胞或分泌胰岛素的β细胞以便对肝病及糖尿病进行细胞水平的治疗。

        目前我们主要研究哺乳动物胚胎发生过程中肝实质细胞及β细胞的分化及成熟机制。细胞信号、表观遗传修饰和基因网络协调作用，对这些细胞的分化及成熟过程进行着严格的调控。这些不同层次的调控机制是我们关注的重点。

        我们会利用体内研究得到的线索优化现有的肝实质细胞及β细胞的体外分化条件，以期诱导出有生理功能、成熟的肝实质细胞及β细胞。

The liver and pancreas coordinately provide essential metabolic functions. During embryogenesis, both liver and pancreas progenitors derive from a common multipotent domain in the foregut endoderm and they share many aspects including several common transcriptional factors. Thereby the liver and pancreas development are usually considered together.

The goal of the laboratory is to investigate cell differentiation and organogenesis in liver and pancreas development, which is fundamental for the studies of liver and pancreas regeneration. Improved understanding of the programs of liver and pancreas development in embryogenesis could instruct us to sufficiently differentiate embryonic stem (ES) cells into specific liver or pancreas lineages for cell therapies of hepatic and pancreatic deceases.

Now our studies are mainly focusing on the mechanisms of hepatocyte and β cell lineage specification and maturation during embryogenesis, which are precise process coordinated with extracellular cell signaling transduction, epigenetics, and genetic regulatory networks.
 

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