Exploring the co-evolution between tumor cells and tumor microenvironment is the central theme of my laboratory. Using the state-of-art single cell level sequencing and multiphoton based intravital imaging, we aim to reveal the in-depth molecular mechanisms of tissue dynamics during the early tumor development, drug resistance and metastasis colonization. Base on our pre-clinical findings, we also conduct pre-clinical testing of novel combinatorial therapies to overcome drug resistance and prevent tumor metastasis.
We are focusing on perfecting in vivo model system and integrating innovative approaches to faithfully model and investigate dynamic interaction between tumor and its tumor microenvironment at single cell level. We have developed intravital multiphoton imaging and tissue clearing-based whole tissue imaging techniques, which allow us to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of tumor and tumor microenvironment in situ at cellular and subcellular level. We have also established single cell-based RNA-seq pipeline, which enables us to map the single cell level transcriptome dynamics at the early tumor development and metastatic colonization. We aim to tackle the overarching challenge of studying early tumor/metastasis development in situ and gain unprecedented mechanistic insights of the role of tumor microenvironment during the cancer progression in its native pathophysiological microenvironment.