Rol of the Wnt-pathway in the gut epithelium of the mouse

The Wnt-pathway is an important signaling pathway that controls cell proliferation in both the embryo and adult organism. In the intestine this pathway is essential for the maintenance of the stem cell compartment and this pathway also becomes deregulated in colon cancer so that the cancer cells will overproliferate).

In this PhD thesis the extracellular components of the Wnt-pathway will be studied in the intestine of the adult mouse.

This research will be focused on the large intestine because of the high incidence of colorectal cancer in Western societies, but the small intestine will also be investigated to be able to detect potentially important differences between both tissue types.

Through three convergent approaches, namely the study of the role of the Wnt-pathway in the normal homeostasis of the intestine, the role of the pathway during the cancer process and also in the (genetically) manipulated intestinal tissue, the role of the Wnt-pathway on an extracellular level will be thoroughly investigated.