We are interested in understanding the fundamental biological principles underlying tissue development and disease, particularly infectious disease and cancer. We aim to establish the most advanced organoid culture systems to model these human pathologies and to reveal mechanisms that prevent or drive disease, with the ultimate goals of identifying novel therapeutic strategies.

Dr. He Gui-Wei received his PhD degree with summa cum laude from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany in 2018. Then Dr. He joined Professor Hans Clevers laboratory at the Hubrecht Institute, where he developed a next-generation human intestinal organoid model and used this new model system to study human intestinal development and diseases. Dr. He's studies were published in high-profile journals, including Cell Stem Cell, Gut and Journal of Experimental Medicine.

In this study, we establish an optimized human intestinal organoid model and discover the mechanisms of interleukin-22-dependent Paneth cell formation.

Representative papers:

He, G. W.; Lin, L.; DeMartino, J.; Zheng, X.; Staliarova, N.; Dayton, T.; Begthel, H.; Wetering, W.; Bodewes, E.; Zon, J. E.; Tans, S.; Lopez-Iglesias, C.; Peters, P. J.; Wu, W.; Kotlarz, D.; Klein, C.; Margaritis, T.; Holstege, F.; Clevers, H., Optimized human intestinal organoid model reveals interleukin-22-dependency of Paneth cell formation. Cell Stem Cell 2022, 29(9):1333-1345. 

He, G. W.; Gunther, C.; Thonn, V.; Yu, Y. Q.; Martini, E.; Buchen, B.; Neurath, M. F.; Sturzl, M.; Becker, C., Regression of apoptosis-resistant colorectal tumors by induction of necroptosis in mice. J Exp Med 2017, 214 (6), 1655-1662.

He, G. W.; Gunther, C.; Kremer, A. E.; Thonn, V.; Amann, K.; Poremba, C.; Neurath, M. F.; Wirtz, S.; Becker, C., PGAM5-mediated programmed necrosis of hepatocytes drives acute liver injury. Gut 2017, 66 (4), 716-723.

Gunther, C.; He, G. W.; Kremer, A. E.; Murphy, J. M.; Petrie, E. J.; Amann, K.; Vandenabeele, P.; Linkermann, A.; Poremba, C.; Schleicher, U.; Dewitz, C.; Krautwald, S.; Neurath, M. F.; Becker, C.; Wirtz, S., The pseudokinase MLKL mediates programmed hepatocellular necrosis independently of RIPK3 during hepatitis. J Clin Invest 2016, 126 (11), 4346-4360.

Driehuis, E.; Kolders, S.; Spelier, S.; Lohmussaar, K.; Willems, S. M.; Devriese, L. A.; de Bree, R.; de Ruiter, E. J.; Korving, J.; Begthel, H.; van Es, J. H.; Geurts, V.; He, G. W.; van Jaarsveld, R. H.; Oka, R.; Muraro, M. J.; Vivie, J.; Zandvliet, M.; Hendrickx, A. P. A.; Iakobachvili, N.; Sridevi, P.; Kranenburg, O.; van Boxtel, R.; Kops, G.; Tuveson, D. A.; Peters, P. J.; van Oudenaarden, A.; Clevers, H., Oral Mucosal Organoids as a Potential Platform for Personalized Cancer Therapy. Cancer Discov 2019, 9 (7), 852-871.