Wenqi Wang, Ph.D.

The central question the Wang lab is interested in investigating is what are the signaling networks underlying tissue homeostasis and organ size control as well as the role of their dysregulation in tumorigenesis. The recognition in the past decade that the Hippo pathway is a crucial signaling pathway in organ size control, allowed us to take the first step to achieve this long-term goal.

We are majorly working on the two areas in the lab:

1. Dissecting and targeting the Hippo pathway for cancer treatment.

Our previous proteomic analysis established the protein-protein interaction network for the human Hippo pathway, which helped to uncover a number of potential novel Hippo regulators. We are characterizing the cellular functions of these regulators, and examining their roles in organ size control and tumorigenesis. Since Hippo pathway is a crucial tumor suppressor pathway, we also hope to explore the therapeutic potentials by utilizing the Hippo pathway for cancer therapy.

2. Defining the protein-protein interaction landscape involved in organ size control and tissue homeostasis.

Coordination of key signaling pathways required for cell proliferation and survival may contribute to the elegant mechanisms underlying organ size control and tissue homeostasis. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of this process, we have defined the protein-protein interaction networks for several key signaling pathways/protein families related to growth control and cancer development, especially how they crosstalk with the Hippo pathway by utilizing the proteomic approach. We expect that these studies will also generate additional clues to help us unravel the molecular basis of the Hippo pathway in organ size control and cancer prevention.

Lab website: https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/wenqiw6/ 

Selected Publications  (Complete list of published work: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/wenqi.wang.1/bibliography/public/)

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