Laboratory of Damage Responses and Repair in Cancer Treatment and Cardiac Repair

Introduction to YJC Lab’s Research

Under the theme of “damage responses and repair”, we explore the complex issues of cancer combination therapy and cardiac repair and remodeling.

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Our current reserach topics include:

1. The regulation of cancer progression and Synergistic combination therapies: This may involve chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT): Combination therapy for cancer refers to the simultaneous or sequential use of two or more different treatments, such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, etc., to enhance anti-cancer effects, reduce side effects, overcome resistance, prolong survival, etc. Among them, boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is an emerging therapy that delivers boron drugs into cancer cells and to react with neutrons, producing high-energy particles that cause local damage to the cancer cells. BNCT can be combined with other treatments to improve selectivity and specificity.

2. Cardiac toxicity related to cancer treatment (cardiac-oncology): Cancer treatment not only affects cancer cells, but also causes damage to normal tissues and organs. Cardiac toxicity related to cancer treatment refers to the functional or structural changes in the cardiovascular system caused by cancer treatment, such as myocarditis, heart failure, arrhythmia, etc. These cardiac toxicities not only affect the effectiveness of cancer treatment, but also increase the risk of death and decrease the quality of life of patients. Therefore, studying the impact of cancer treatment on the heart, and how to reduce and prevent cardiac toxicity, is an important issue.
 

3. Cardiac repair and remodeling: To maintain the function and structure of the heart, a series of tissue and molecular changes will occur after stimuli or injuries. These changes (e.g., tissue remodeling, ionic remodeling, metabolic remodeling) may be beneficial or harmful, depending on the type, intensity, and other factors of the stimulus or injury. The cardiac repair and remodeling process involves multiple cell types and signaling molecules. We usd the zebraifsh model system to study the roles of these cells and molecules in the cardiac repair and remodeling, which shall help to identify key regulatory molecules that  repair damaged myocardium, restore cardiac rhythm, prevent cardiac fibrosis, and promote scarless healing, and develop new therapeutic methods.

If you want to learn more about our reserach, we invite you to checkout our research papers published in recent years. We also welcome those of you who are interested in these topics to come join us and to develop translational applications.

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