Samuel Abassah-Oppong, PhD
Senior Lecturer
Current Research Focus
R-spondins have been implicated in diverse cancers principally because of their proliferative roles in assorted embryonic tissues. Rspo3, a member of the R-spondin group is highly expressed in mouse liver, suggesting the likelihood of regulating hepatocyte growth and differentiation. Interestingly, lacerated liver amasses significant amount of Rspo3 although understanding the unique function of raised levels of Rspo3 in the liver in response to injury remains indefinable. From the foregoing and given that R-spondins are key in cell proliferation, we hypothesize that elevated Rspo3 in the liver promote regeneration of hepatocyte cells and confer protection against liver injury in mice. We are currently assessing the growth, survival and proliferative capacity of Rspo3 in hepatocytes. We shall examine the role of Rspo3 in liver cells by the capacity of Rspo3 to rescue carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced-damaged liver cells. Markers for examining liver competence for example, aspartate aminotransferase (ASP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin shall be scored for CCl4 induced liver of Rspo3 liver conditionals and wild-type mice.
