Wang Lab
Principal Investigator: Zhu Wang
Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Project Summary Prostatitis is a common urinary tract problem for men. Although pathological and epidemiological studies have linked prostatitis to the development of prostate cancer, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. Answering this question will have clinical benefits in prostate cancer prevention and early intervention. It has been proposed that inflammation can induce tissue stem cell expansion, thereby enlarging the cellular pool for oncogenic transformation. In the prostate, epithelial basal cells serve as stem cells during organogenesis and injury repair, but are quiescent in adult homeostasis. Preliminary data in mouse models suggest that prostatitis reactivates adult basal cells to promote basal-to-luminal differentiation, which facilitates the initiation and progression of prostate cancer. The goal of this project is to elucidate the mechanisms regulating basal cell plasticity in prostatitis and apply the knowledge for prostate cancer prevention. Our central hypothesis is that dysregulation of the androgen receptor (AR) and Wnt signaling crosstalk through an increase of Wnt/β-catenin activity and insufficient AR sequestration is a major factor underlying basal cell…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01CA271452-10: Regulation of prostate epithelial basal cell plasticity (2026)
- 5R01CA271452-09: Regulation of prostate epithelial basal cell plasticity (2025)
- 5R01CA271452-08: Regulation of prostate epithelial basal cell plasticity (2024)
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