Epithelial Stem Cells

Ian Mackenzie BDS, FDSRCS, PhD

Research field

Ian Mackenzie's group investigates various aspects of the normal and pathological behaviour of epithelial stem cells in relation to cell renewal, tissue engineering and cancer. With the support of the BBSRC studies are examining a) the roles of connexins in maintaining epithelial stem cell function, and b) the ability of mesenchymal signals to induce embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into epithelial lineages. Other related work examines the potential value of re-differentiation of somatic stem cells in tissue engineering and the roles of oxygen in stem cell survival. A major interest of the group is the hierarchical pattern of stem cell proliferation demonstrable in malignant cell lines. In vitro work examines how stem cell properties affect the initiation and growth of malignant lesions and the group has a particular interest in nature of the molecular mechanisms controlling the balance between asymmetric and symmetric stem cell divisions, patterns basic to an understanding of malignant stem cell growth.

Key research papers

1 Mackenzie IC. (2004) Growth of malignant oral epithelial stem cells after seeding into organotypical cultures of normal mucosa. J.Oral Pathol.Med. 33(2):71-8.

2 Tudor D, Locke M, Owen-Jones E, Mackenzie IC. (2004) Intrinsic patterns of behaviour of epithelial stem cells. J. Invest. Dermatol. Symp Proc. Sep;9(3):208-14.

3 Locke M, Heywood M, Fawell S, Mackenzie IC. (2005) Retention of intrinsic stem cell hierarchies in carcinoma-derived cell lines. Cancer Res. 2005 Oct 1;65(19):8944-50.