Home Department: Engineering
Mentor: Jill Helms (Surgery - Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery)

“Stem Cell Niche Response During Chronic Injury of Junctional Epithelium”

The junctional epithelium (JE) is a high-turnover barrier controlled by a Wnt-responsive JE stem cell niche, protecting teeth where they attach to the gingiva. Chronic injury of the JE severely damages the JE niche, but eventually the JE begins to regenerate. Alison will study the mechanism of JE repair during chronic injury from 5-FU, a chemotherapeutic drug. The project will involve lineage tracing of Wnt-responsive cells in mice, hypothesizing that a second stem cell niche is activated to regenerate the JE. Evidence of a secondary injury-repair response could aid in discovering ways to minimize tissue damage caused by chemotherapy.