Wen-Hui Lien

Major achievements

• Identify a key regulator for stem cell maintenance in skin (Nature Communications, 2022)
• Unwind in vivo chromatin states and transcriptional regulation of the hair follicle stem cells (Cell Stem Cell, 2011; Nature Cell Biology, 2014)
• Uncover a novel role of cell-cell adhesion in controlling the size of developing brain (Science, 2006)

Questions

• What are the roles of Wnt signaling regulators in skin development and stem cell maintenance?

• How do Wnt signaling cross-regulate with other signaling pathways to control stem cell behavior during skin regeneration and tumorigenesis?

• Which functions do Wnt signaling exert in tumor cells within their immune-microenvironment during tumorigenesis?

Research focus

The epidermis is in dynamic equilibrium and is constantly renewed throughout life. Skin stem cells that can self-renew and differentiate provide the unlimited source for long-term tissue maintenance and regeneration. These cellular processes are finely regulated by the signaling molecules within their microenvironment. Dysregulation of these signaling pathways commonly leads to the development of tumors.

Wnt signaling is one of important pathways required for tissue development and maintenance. Wen-Hui Lien and her group focus on understanding how Wnt signaling orchestrates the development of skin, the maintenance of skin stem cells, and the process of skin cancer initiation and progression. Using transgenic mouse models and primary cell culture in combination of multiple technologies, such as fluorescent activated cell sorting, transcriptomic and proteomic approaches, the lab aims to decipher how Wnt signaling cross-interact with another pathways and how their collaboration co-regulates the behaviors of stem cells and tumor cells, and their interaction with the niche cells within their native microenvironment.

Through new discoveries, Wen-Hui and her team intend to identify an integrative view of signaling regulation that instructs skin homeostasis and tumorigenesis, and by which to develop strategies to treat skin diseases and cancer.

Wen-Hui Lien obtained her Master’s degree in Molecular Medicine from National Cheng-Kung University (Taiwan) in 2002, and then moved to the USA to attain her PhD degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from University of Washington (Seattle) in 2008. In 2009, she joined the lab of Dr. Elaine Fuchs in Rockefeller University (New York) as a postdoctoral fellow working on epigenetic and signaling regulation in skin stem cells. Upon receiving Ulysses Mandate from FNRS, she joined the de Duve Institute as a Group leader in September 2013, and then became a FNRS permanent Research Associate and UCLouvain Associate Professor in 2016. She is currently a board member of Belgian Society for Stem Cell Research (BeSSCR), and an editorial board member of Scientific Reports and Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. She also serves a reviewer in numerous journals, including Nature Communications, EMBO Journal, PLoS Biology, Stem Cells …etc, and for several grant funding agencies, such as Medical Research Council in UK, in Singapore…etc.

Honors

• Eminent scientist, selected by the China Science Popularization Research Institute, 2022
• Excellent female researcher, nominated by FNRS and selected by AcademiaNet, 2021
• Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Medicine in National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan, 2017
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund, USA, 2011-2013
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvey L. Karp Discovery Award, USA, 2009-2011
• Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, USA, 2009
• Research Creativity Award, National Science Council, Taiwan, 2000

Affiliations

• Group Leader, de Duve Institute
• Associate Professor, UCLouvain
• Permanent Research Associate (Chercheur Qualifié), FNRS