Primary Area of Research:
*Pathogenesis of viral hepatitis
*Liver carcinogenesis
*Transcription factor oncogenes
and cell transformation
* Gastroenterology and liver
pathology
* Graft verse host disease(GVHD)
Majority of the patients
who infected with hepatitis C virus will develop chronic infection and
subsequently led to chronic liver disease and even liver cancer.
Currently there is neither effective vaccine nor treatment. We will
try to determine the nature of this viral infection and host response in
infected human liver tissue, which will provide insight into the pathogenesis.
Beta-catenin is an important
component of Wnt-Wingless signal transduction pathway. The dysfunction
of this pathway has been implicated in a number of malignancies including
colon cancer and melanoma. Recently, Beta-catenin mutations have
been identified in liver cancer including hepatocellular carcinoma and
hepatoblastoma. We have found that majority of the hepatoblastoma
cells have beta catenin nuclear accumulation. We are trying to determine
the molecular mechanism of mutated beta catenin in the process of cell
transformation and the development of cancer.
