E. Jane Albert Hubbard, PhD

We study how diet and aging affect stem cells in vivo using germline stem cell system of the nematode worm C. elegans as an experimental model. These stem cells share molecular and cellular features with stem cells in humans, and they are amenable to experimental approaches in the lab such as live microscopy and molecular genetics. The stem cell pool is remarkably plastic and is responsive to multiple genetic,  environmental and physiological cues. Our work takes advantage of this system where we can easily manipulate the diet and genetics of the worm, and the worm’s lifespan is short. In the lab, the worms feed on and live in bacteria. We found that the quality and quantity of the bacterial dietary and sensory environment influences the stem cell pool via conserved signaling pathways such as insulin-IGF, TOR, and TGFß. We recently discovered a mechanism whereby bacterial abundance can directly modulate Notch pathway activity, a canonical developmental decision pathway that is implicated in many cancers. Our aging studies also implicate insulin-IGF signaling in regulation of the aging stem cell pool and of the morphology of the stem cell niche, but in a manner that is anatomically distinct from the effects of this pathway on organismal lifespan.

For more information, see our website: https://med.nyu.edu/research/jane-hubbard-lab/